14-12-2012 by The Phuket News

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Police received a report on November 30 that a body, believed to be Hungarian Peter Reisz, had been found wrapped in bin bags and dumped on a rubber plantation in Kathu

Suspect Moshe David was caught in Bangkok and police say he confessed to the killing. A second murder suspect, Lajos Kvalka, has surrendered to police but says he killed no-one FULL STORY ON PAGE 3

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Red Shirt leader met by Yellows Firebrand Nattawut Saikua gets a tellingoff from locals over constitution plans > 5

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Mystery of missing US surfer deepens Nattha Thepbamrung reporter2@thephuketnews.com

he mystery of the disappearance of American surfer Brett Bean has deepened with the news that since emailing his mother, Patricia Lynne Bean, on November 26 – his last contact with her – two withdrawals have been made by ATM from his bank account. Mrs Bean arrived in Phuket on Sunday (December 9). She went to Karon Police Station the following day and appealed for help in finding him. She also offered a B50,000 reward for anyone who finds her son. Brett Bean, aged 44, arrived in Phuket in March this year to spend time surfing in Phuket. He was due to fly back to the United States on

The unique tattoo on American Brett Bean’s left arm. November 29 but did not make the flight. His mother told reporters that in his most recent email to her, at 12:20 Thailand time on November 26, he told her that he was going out to join a friend for lunch. On November 29 she went

to meet him, as arranged, at Los Angeles International Airport but he never showed. She contacted staff of the airline, Cathay Pacific, who said that he had been booked on the flight but had not turned up for it. There have been no emails since November 26, but two withdrawals have been made from Mr Bean’s bank account. The first was on November 27, when B1,500 was withdrawn. The second was on December 5 – six days after he missed his f light home – when another B1,500 was withdrawn from the Siam Commercial Bank near the Chalong Circle, leaving the account empty. Checks showed that Mr Bean left his bungalow, on Soi 10, Patak Rd, in Karon, on November 26. His surfboard

and other belongings were found in the bungalow, but his wallet, mobile phone and laptop computer were not. Also missing, from outside the bungalow, was his grey Honda Wave 125 motorbike, license number กรต 443. “Mr Brett has visited Phuket every year in summer for eight years” said Ananya Insamran, a Thai coordinator with US diplomatic staff. “He is a ski instructor in California in the winter and spends summers in Phuket. “He is a responsible man. He always tells his mother where he is and when he will return. Mrs Bean also said that she does not believe her son has problems with anyone here. He is a peaceable person and is well liked by people in his hometown. “His Swiss neighbour [in Phuket] said that he would usually go back to his place early, around 7 or 8 pm every day.” Local people, questioned by police, said they last saw Mr Bean on November 25. Inside the bungalow, none of his personal belongings appeared to be out of place. “The room seems normal. There were no signs of a struggle,” Pol Lt Col Chana Suthimat of Karon Police Station said. Mrs Bean noted that her son would always pack his bags at least one day before leaving a place. She has already viewed an unidentified body, possibly Caucasian, which was found on November 23 floating in the waters around Koh Racha Yai. She told Chalong police

Mrs Bean with a photo of her missing son Brett. that she was sure it was not her son. Why police should have shown her a body found three days before Mr Bean’s last communication with his mother is not clear. Mr Bean is 180 cm tall, 82kg, and has an oval-shaped face with a beard. He has shoulder-length hair and receding hairline He has two tattoos – one of a small snake on his right thigh and another complex but indecipherable design on his left arm. On Tuesday (December 11), Mrs Bean reviewed CCTV footage taken from around the ATM machine where the withdrawals were made. In the footage, however, the man making the withdrawals is wearing a motorbike helmet, and Mrs Bean said she could not tell whether it was him – though she “really hoped it was”. She said she would send the images back to the US

for her husband and other relatives to look at. “We hope that is him,” she told The Phuket News. “We love him and want him to come home. If he is reading this, we want to say we love him and he must call us.” If the Beans can confirm the images taken from November 27 and December 5 are Mr Bean, then, police say, they will stop searching for him. However if family cannot confirm they are Mr Bean, then the investigation and search will continue. Mrs Bean has tentative plans to fly back to the US on December 20. Anyone finding the motorbike, or knowing anything about Mr Bean’s movements or whereabouts since midday on November 26 is urged to call Ms Ananya at 089-646-4191 or Denny Bowman, US Embassy coordinator, at 089-973-3483.

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PHUKET NEWS

Moshe admits killing; second suspect held Tanyaluk Sakoot reporter4@thephuketnews.com

ungarian Gyorgy Lajos Kvalka, wanted in connnection with the murder of fellow-Hungarian Peter Reisz on November 24, surrendered to the Tourist Police on Koh Samui on Saturday (December 8). Although he admitted to investigators that he had been present in the house near the Makro store when Mr Reisz was stabbed and bludgeoned to death, Kvalka denied taking part. Worried friends reported Mr Reisz missing on November 27, but by that time he had already been dead for three days. Police received a report on November 30 that a body had been found wrapped in black plastic bin bags and dumped on a rubber plantation in Kathu. Police are still awaiting the results of DNA tests to confirm the body is that of Mr Reisz, but say they are sure it is his. Kvalka was the second

Lajos Gyorgy Kvalka, photographed after his surrender to tourist police in Samui, seems to contemplate the grim days that may lay ahead of him. person arrested in the case. The other, Moshe David, was caught three days earlier in Bangkok and police say he confessed to the killing. Last Friday (December 7) David was taken in handcuffs to various parts of the island to reenact steps in the murder,

including buying items at Central Festival, the killing itself and the dumping of Mr Reisz’s corpse some five kilometres away from the murder scene, wrapped in black bin bags bought earlier the same day during the foray to Central.

Wearing a black balaclava over his head to hide his face, David was walked out of Tung Tong police station into a police van and whisked away to the house in the Phanason development just to the north of Makro. Reporters were told to

stay out of the house; it was understood that David had been irritated to find reporters present wherever he was taken, and had told police he would not cooperate if reporters were allowed inside the house. Outside the house, while the renactment of the stabbing was taking place, a neighbour told The Phuket News that it was pouring with rain on the night of the murder but she heard voices raised in what appeared to be a violent argument. Although police say that David has admitted killing Mr Reisz, there are still many loose ends. The motive for the murder is also not clear: either Mr Reisz tried to cheat David in a land deal or David demanded further credit from Mr Reisz, who refused to give it. Thai police and Hungarian authorities are also expected to be looking for answers to the mystery of Laszlo Csepai, a Hungarian billionaire, who disappeared in Thailand earlier this year.

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JAIL TIME While businesses across the island were delivering food baskets to clients and associates in the run-up to Christmas and the New Year, Siam Guardian Services (SGS) General Manager Barrie Buck and staff took a different route, visiting Phuket prison to donate food and clothes for the prisoners and greetings for the staff at the jail.

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Wife finds depressed taxi driver hanged POLICE WERE CALLED TO a house near Bangkok Hospital, Phuket Town, on Saturday morning (December 8) after a man was found hanged in the storeroom of his family home. Police say taxi driver Supong Sriaram, 32, hanged himself on Friday night, and his wife found his body at 7am the following morning. Mr Supong’s wife, Perama Sriaram, said normally the couple sleep in the same bedroom, but last night he said he was going to sleep alone in the storeroom. She thought nothing of it, she said. This morning when she got up to go to work, she went to wake her husband but found him dead. She told police her husband got stressed very easily, and was often depressed. He also bottled up his feelings, rarely revealing them to his family, she added. He had also had liver cancer, which resulted in months spent in the hospital for treatment, she said, but she said she had no idea what had sparked his decision to commit suicide.

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Behind the bright lights of Patong, wild animal misuse and child labour.

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terrified 13-year-old Cambodian girl has been handed over to the Foundation for Children and Family after she was caught peddling flowers to tourists on Rat U Thit 200 Phi Rd, Patong, on Monday night (December 11). The girl, who cannot for legal reasons be named, pleaded not to be sent back to her “parents” for fear they would beat her. The “parents”, an

official told The Phuket News, are not her real parents but a Vietnamese couple. The girl told officials that when she had been caught in the past and returned to her “parents” they were fined by the officials and she received a caning, as many as 30 strokes with a stick. She said she would like to be returned home to Cambodia. Another official (none of the officials wanted to be named) explained afterwards, “Phuket has a lot of this kind

of [illegal street] business, such as misuse of endangered species and other wild animals, and children being sent out to work selling things. “We make constant patrols but it is difficult because they have lookouts who warn them we are coming. So that, we have to rely on other people tipping us off.” Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukabal has ordered a strict policy of arrests, with wild animals and cameras being confiscated and the offenders fined B2,000.

IN BRIEF Fundraiser for cancer-hit expat Friends of well known Phuket sailor Kevin Ashby are holding a fundraiser tonight (December 14) to raise money for his cancer treatment. Mr Ashby was diagnosed last week with stagethree colon cancer and does not have medical insurance. So far around B30,000 has been raised for the appeal, which will help go toward Mr Ashby’s treatment, expected to cost up to B500,000. The fundraiser will be held at the Ao Chalong Yacht Club, starting at 6.30 pm. There will be food, DJs and prizes up for grabs, as well as a raffle for a new Honda Wave motorbike. For more information or to donate contact Ali Goebel at ourfriendkevin@ gmail.com

Surin tourist centre opens The Tourist Information Center at Surin Beach, aimed at giving information to visitors to the beach and tightening security, was officially opened on Friday (December 7) next to the Surin Beach football field. Operations at the centre are provided not only by local officials but also by representatives of businesses in the Surin Beach area. The centre is currently open from 8 am to 5 pm daily, with 24-hour security coverage. It is hoped that it will be possible to have all other facilities open round the clock at a later date.

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Fiery reception Locals present demands to Nattawut Nattha Thepbamrung reporter2@thephuketnews.com

N Roller coaster: Gov Maitree (purple shirt) supervises the destruction of the pirated goods.

Pirated items destroyed CUSTOMS OFFICIALS ON Wednesday (December 12) brought in a diesel roller to destroy 9,762 pirated products seized in recent raids. Watched by Benja Louichareon, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Customs, Phuket Governor Maitree Intusut and other officials, the roller lurched over the top of shoes, glasses, bags, shirts, CDs, DVDs and other brand copies seized in 44 completed cases. The “street” value of the items was put at around B29 million.

Mrs Benja said, “ This destruction shows that we support the copyright of the brand owners and that we we have strict rules about suppressing illegal products.” Mrs Benja and Gov Maitree joined in with a token smashing of items with a couple of ribbon-wrapped hammers. With a twinkle in his eye, the Governor looked at his hammer closely and said, “This isn’t a copy, is it?” All the flattened items will be consigned to the incinerator.

attawut Saikua, the firebrand Red Shirt leader – who, in the days approaching the violent climax of the movement’s mass protest in January 2010, urged supporters to “Burn them, burn them all, folks” – arrived in Phuket on Wednesday morning (December 12) to a small but fiery reception from a small group calling themselves “Local Phuket People”. Mr Nattawut f lew into Phuket in his now more respectable role as Deputy Minister of Commerce in the Pheu Thai government, to join in deliberations of the International Tripartite Rubber Council at the Centara Grand Karon with counterparts from Malaysia and Indonesia, and observers from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. On behalf of the 20 protestors, Aparat Chatchutikumjorn presented the started politician with a demand that the Cabinet of PM Yingluck Shinawatra drop its drive to rewrite clause

Arsonist targets beach chairs IN WHAT APPEARS TO BE the latest act in a long-running vendetta, beach chairs, seats and umbrellas stored under a lifeguard tower at Patong Beach were torched early last Friday (December 7). The damage from the fire was estimated at more than B50,000. It was the latest in a series of similar arsons dating back to September. Kathu district police in Patong were contacted at 2.30 on Friday morning by a local person who told them the blaze was underway at a lifeguard tower at the north end of the beach near Loma Park, at the

intersection of Phrabaramee Rd and the beach road. A single fire engine was sent to deal with the blaze but the combination of high winds and highly flammable foam rubber in the cushions for the sunbeds prevented them from dousing the flames before everything was ruined. Investigators said a feud among beach chair vendors over proceeds from the lucrative rental business lay behind the arson. A similar fire, though less destructive, was set at the same spot before dawn on October 13. Before that, a fire was set

in September about 150 metres away, “set using gasoline, just the same”. Kathu superintendent Pol Col Jirapat Pohchanapant ordered a unit of detectives to inspect CCTV footage from cameras in the area for clues, noting that Patong is the “pilot area” for the government’s crime- and disaster-free Safety Zone Project. The name of the vendor whose equipment was torched was not reported. Patong Mayor Pian Keesin has long been one of the major players in Patong’s beach rental business.

Aparat Chatchutikumjorn presents Nattawut Saikua with her group’s demands. 291 of the 2007 Thai Constitution. This clause governs amendments to the Constitution as a whole. Changing this is seen by opponents as being a precursor to rewriting the entire law. The Local Phuket People said they were concerned at the news that “an important politician” in the Cabinet had announced in parliament that he would bring exiled premier

Thaksin Shinawatra back to Thailand as soon as possible, and that this was the real reason for the government’s attempts to change the Constitution. The group also voiced its disapproval of the government’s handling of the continuing violence in the Deep South, and its agricultural policies, which they said “had a major effect on the Thai economy”.

Ms Aparat told Mr Nattawut that the Cabinet was elected by the entire country and must therefore respond to the wishes of all Thai people, not only to “some groups of people”. She told The Phuket News that solving the violence in the south and agricultural problems “is more urgent and important than amending the Constitution”.

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DARK HISTORY Details emerge of Moshe David’s murky past

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ungarian/Israeli citizen Moshe David, arrested on December 5 on suspicion that he murdered fellow Hungarian Peter Reisz in Phuket, was apparently already known to both Hungarian and Thai police. David was arrested in the Maboonkrong area of Bangkok after he was detected using his ATM card in the area. Police had worked fast. Mr Reisz was reported missing on November 27. Three days later a body was found abandoned in a dip in the ground in a rubber plantation in Kathu. The dead man, wrapped in plastic bin bags, was wearing only underwear, and had his hands bound. His head had been bashed in and he had been stabbed multiple times in the back. Initially police were not able to confirm that the body was that of Mr Reisz, though they strongly believed it was his. The hunt for his killer began. They tracked David’s movement after the murder, which they believed (and it has since been confirmed) was committed on November 24 – three days before Mr Reisz was reported missing by friends, and six days before the body was found. After the killing, police said, David drove Mr Reisz’s car, a white pick-up, back to Koh Samui – where the two had

supposedly been in business together in the property – and sold it. Police said they were sure he was still in Thailand. They were right. On the day of his arrest, one of Hungary’s most respected newspapers, Népszabadság, reported that David was known to Thai police; he was once pulled in and questioned by Thai police after the disappearance in Thailand of a Hungarian retail billionaire, Laszlo Csepai. Mr Csepai, the newspaper wrote, owns “more than a hundred stores in Europe” and was spotted on CCTV at an airport in Thailand with David, shortly before he disappeared. But with nothing more to go on, Thai police were obliged to release him. Mr Csepai remains missing. David also got into trouble with police in Bo Phut, on Koh Samui, after being found in possession of a firearm. Phuket Police Commander Maj Gen Choti Chavalviwat commented, “He was charged earlier this year with illegal possession of a firearm. “People working [honestly] in Thailand don’t need to carry guns,” he added. “We believe he had the gun to threaten someone.” Then there is the question of just who he is. “Moshe David” is apparently not the only name he goes by. He also has the name Gábor Németh, and he is wanted in Hungary for fleeing the country after being sentenced to seven years

Hungarian/Israeli citizen Moshe David is placed behind bars at Thungtong police station after his return to Phuket. Inset, victim Peter Reisz (Photo: Golf Thairat) in jail for fraud. Ferenc Chilko, a Hungarian former policeman turned private investigator, was hired by Csepai’s family to try to locate the missing billionaire. He has zeroed in on David as a possible suspect in the disappearance and is quoted by the newspaper as saying that David is, on first meeting him, a man of considerable charm. But, he warned, David “looks for people who have more money than average, and only cares about one thing: how to take that money away from them. “He has suave manners, good interpersonal abilities.

He’s a sleek man,” he is quoted as saying. A Phuket News reader who once met David, and who asked to remain anonymous, agreed. “He’s good company,” he said. Népszabadság reports that Peter Reisz realised at some point after going into business with David that the sleek exterior hid something a great deal more sinister, and he became very frightened. He contacted the Hungarian Embassy in Bangkok to alert them to his fears, and handed them a letter setting out in great detail why he feared for his life. The newspaper says, “According to some sources, the consulate only told him to be careful and to check in with them every other day, while

others say he was advised to return to Hungary.” According to the investigator, Mr Chilko, Mr Reisz also secretly recorded a “brutal” conversation with David in which the latter told him, “You could end up like Csepai.” Mr Chilko declined to say how he got hold of a copy of the recording. Although David has apparently told police he killed Mr Reisz in a fury after discovering that the latter had ripped him off to the tune of B30 million by forging his signature on land ownership transfer papers, the newspaper offers a different theory. “Several factors suggest that the … background was actually over the failure of a loan transaction; David wanted to borrow more from Mr Reisz, but he said no, and that was his undoing.” Police say David has already confessed to the killing, and he has taken part in reenactments of the murder and of the dumping of Mr Reisz’s body. A second Hungarian, Lajos Gyorgy Kvalka, 48, surrendered to police on Koh Samui on Saturday (December 8). He denies taking part in the murder, but admits he was there when it took place. More than that has not yet been made public, but police will undoubtedly be questioning him closely not only about his part in the killing but also about David’s relationship with Mr Reisz.

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BANGKOK NEWS

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Govt ‘unaware’ of Thaksin broadcast

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THE GOVERNMENT IS on the defence and says it was unaware that deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra would be appearing during the state-run Channel 11 kickboxing broadcast on Sunday (December 9). The claim follows severe criticism from Thaksin’s critics, who have threatened to initiate probes against the government and its Public Relations Department (PRD). The opposition Democrat Party said it would ask the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate who gave the broadcast the go-ahead while the Green Politics group plans to take the matter to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). Thaksin’s foes said they found it hard to believe the government had no prior knowledge about Thaksin showing up for Muay Thai Warriors, a Thai kick-boxing event on Sunday that was broadcast live on Channel 11. The deposed prime minister presided over the tournament which was organised in Macau to commemorate His Majesty the King’s 85th birthday. Thaksin delivered a speech lashing out at the 2006 coupmakers and defending himself against allegations against him after leading the audience to light candles and sing in honour of the King. Democrat deputy spokesman Mallika Boonmeetrakul said yesterday those who authorised the broadcast should be held accountable for allowing Thaksin, a convicted fugitive on the run, to use the state-run media outlet for his benefit. Democrat MP for Songkhla Wirat Kallayasiri said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and PM’s Office Minister Sansanee Nakpong, who oversees the PRD, could not deny responsibility. They are supposed to ask and know who will preside over a tournament marking an occasion as important as the King’s birthday, he said. Mr Wirat called Thaksin’s’s appearance unlawful. Ms Sansanee has denied

ra nspor t Mi n ister Chatchat Sittiphan announced earlier this week that Thailand will build two, high-speed railway lines, one running from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and the other running from Bangkok to the northeastern province of Nong Khai. The multi-billion dollar project will employ Chinesemade railway components and is expected to reach completion in 2015, according to a report from MySinchew.com. Once completed, the train system will carry travellers at

Coconuts Bangkok

Former Premier Thaksin. that she had anything to do with the broadcast and had no prior knowledge about Thaksin’s appearance. She said she has asked Channel 11 executives to clarify the matter and hand over timeleasing contracts with the event organiser, the World Professional Muay Thai Federation (WPMF). She noted that the federation had previously leased time from Channel 11 to broadcast the boxing tournament. “I never interfere in the PRD’s affairs. I am in charge of policy,” she said. Gen Chaisit Shinawatra, the WPMF’s president – who is also Thaksin’s cousin said Thaksin was informed about the boxing event but he did not confirm if he would show up. However, he admitted that some preparations were in place for Thaksin if he did show. “There is no hidden agenda. He is a former prime minister and we give him respect,” he said. “I paid Channel 11 for the airtime and I had the right to use it [as I saw fit],” he said. Thaksin’s close aide Noppadon Pattama said the broadcast was being politicised by Thaksin’s political opponents. The appearance only showed Thaksin’s ‘loyalty’, he said. He called the allegations against the former premier ‘painful’, adding that Thaksin deserves to defend himself. Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Prasopdee said there was nothing wrong with Thaksin’s appearance and he lashed out at the Democrats for demanding an apology from Ms Yingluck.

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Could these high-speed trains soon be coming to Thailand? rates of 250 to 300 kilometres per hour, meaning commuters will be able close the distance between Chiang Mai and the

capital in only three and a half hours. A timeline has yet to be announced, but ministers

involved with the project have speculated that the train may one day be connected with the city of Kunming in southwest China, as well as the Laotian capital of Vientiane. Plans are also underway to connect the Thai railway system with railways in Myanmar and Malaysia. The price tag for the project, however, is tremendous. The Bangkok-Chiang Mai railway alone will cost US$10 billion and the Bangkok-Nong Khai railway has a projected cost of US$6.6 billion. Construction on the project is expected to begin in the latter half of next year.

Unexplained deaths of English teachers Coconuts Bangkok

POLICE A R E ST I LL scratching their heads about the mysterious deaths of two English teachers, one British and one American, who were found in Pathum Thani’s Rangsit neighborhood apartment on December 15.

Both Jonathan Louis, 40, and Charlie Milsom, 35, were found seated in chairs in the living room of Louis’s apartment, having apparently died without any sort of struggle. A prescription pill bottle was found at the scene. The bottle had been issued to

Milsom, but was empty when discovered, leaving police to guess as to its contents. Thamaporn Apison, Louis’s long-term girlfriend, stated that Louis had been suffering from chronic gout and had begun taking sleeping pills in order to relieve the pain.

It was Thamaporn who originally called the police, after waking to find both Louis and Milsom dead. The police have not yet issued autopsy results for the pair, though Pol Col Trakul Kiewprasert said that it was possible the men died of an overdose.

NBTC finally hands out 3G licences to 3 bidders Bangkok Post

THE THREE THIRD generation (3G) bid winners officially picked up their longawaited licences Tuesday (December 11) and vowed to kick off full commercial high-speed broadband service in Bangkok and some major provinces early next year. The 3G service will be run

on the international-standard 2.1-gigahertz band. The licences, issued by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), are good for 15 years until December 2027. The three bidders – Advanced Info Service’s Advanced Wireless Network, Total Access Communica-

tion’s DTAC Network and True Corporation’s Real Future – each won a maximum quota of 15 megahertz of spectrum. The three mobile operators also asked the telecoms watchdog to halve interconnection charges for voice and data to 50 satang a minute if it wants them to slash charges for voice and data services

by at least 15 per cent before providing 3G service. Interconnection charges are the fees that operators charge each other for handling calls across various networks. NBTC chairman ACM Thares Punsri said the regulator expects to introduce a temporary 3G interconnection charge for both voice and data service by April.

NOW OPEN ALSO DINNER!! Open from 9.00am to 10.30pm. Daily baked Italian Breads and Italian Pastries, from our Executive Chef Massimo Pettinau. Wide selection of Italian cold cuts and cheeses, delicatessen, fruit and vegetables, pasta, fine extra virgin olive oils, and special gourmet products. Enjoy our Illy coffee at the coffee bar, or a nice lunch from our carte of Italian traditional specialty.

THAILAND NEWS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Raising damaged youth in the deep south Aidan Jones

entally scarred and afraid to set foot outside his home in Thailand’s deep south, Ahmad is one of thousands of children orphaned by a war largely forgotten by the rest of the world. After years living with the menace of bombs, shootings and curfews, many youngsters in Thailand’s insurgencywracked deep south are exhibiting high levels of stress and trauma. “When I do go out I stay near my home... I never go far away,” Ahmad, 12, said as he chewed timidly on the collar of his football shirt. His 15-year-old sister Sunnah said their father’s murder by unknown gunmen six years ago marked the end of her childhood and left the siblings – whose names are changed in this piece to protect their identity – without parents following the death of their mother in an accident. They now live with an aunt. “I don’t feel safe, especially with strangers,” she said. “I suspect people when they look at me. The soldiers are the worst.” Anger, introversion and fear are common symptoms of depression or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), said government mental health expert Pechdau Tohmeena, explaining children are bearing the brunt of the eight-year conflict. “Fear is the number one issue. Some kids have seen their parents shot in front of them, their family shops

A Thai Ranger stands guard as a Muslim woman takes her children to school on the first day of the school year in the southern province of Narathiwat. Photo: AFP burned, relatives beaten or tortured,” she explained at a clinic in Pattani, a city at the heart of the insurgency. “They hear rumours about the violence. They see helicopters flying overhead with their guns pointing down on them. It’s hard to live as a target every day.” More than 5,300 people have died in the region since 2004 in bombings, killings – including beheadings – and shootings by insurgents, as well as military raids targeting suspected militants. Nearly 60 of the dead have been aged 15 or younger, while hundreds more

youngsters have been injured, according to conflict monitor Deep South Watch, the majority caught in crossfire. On October 31, an 11-yearold boy joined that toll, when he was gunned down in an ambush with his father, in an attack that also left his nine-year-old brother in a critical condition in a district of Yala, one of three southern provinces that have been under a state of emergency since 2005. It was a bleak reminder of the gauntlet faced by children every day in a region where militants, who are seeking greater autonomy, target civil-

ians and security forces alike. The number of orphans in the region is a growing concern, with a study by local non-governmental organisation the Pattani Juvenile Observation and Protection Centre putting the number at more than 5,000. Other child welfare groups estimate the figure is two or even three times higher. While there is little comprehensive research on the mental health effects of the conflict, the available statistics are alarming and experts say they are getting worse. Nearly 22 per cent of 11 to 18-year-olds had PTSD

symptoms, which is believed to be more than double the national average, according to a 2010 study of 3,000 children across Thailand’s three southernmost provinces. Just under 40 per cent showed signs of emotional or behavioural problems including anxiety, loss of confidence, poor attention spans, fear and aggression. “Some of these kids have grown up only with violence,” said Panpimol Wipulakorn of the Rajanukul Institute, a government mental health agency, who led the survey. “Some primary school kids even told us what they most need to improve their lives is a gun – that is not the normal response of a school child.” Even school does not provide a sanctuary, with militants deeming governmentrun institutions legitimate targets. More than 150 teachers have been killed by insurgents and hundreds of schools have been torched over the past eight years. The situation is so severe that all 321 schools in Pattani province closed temporarily from November 27 to press for greater protection from the attacks. The most recent incident occurred on Tuesday (December 11), when a headmistress and male teacher were shot and killed as they had lunch in the staff cafeteria of a school in Pattani. Police said the group of at least six gunmen stole a school vehicle to make their getaway. Hundreds of schools in

Pattani and Narathiwat have staged brief closures in recent weeks to protest at the risks facing educators, more than 150 of whom have died in the insurgency. Militants view the school system as an effort by Bangkok to impose Buddhist culture on the Muslim-majority south. Teachers working in non-religious schools are frequently targeted because they are seen as a symbol of government authority. “Conflict situations are detrimental to child development,” said Andrew Morris of the United Nations Children’s Fund, “and the longer that conflict carries on the bigger the impact will be.” The stress of childhood in a war zone plays out in later years, with teenagers experiencing high rates of drug and alcohol use, according to experts. There are some positive signs that mental health is creeping up the agenda. Eight years ago, when the insurgency started, there was just one governmwent psychiatrist for the entire three southern provinces – now there are 40. But as violence rages, there are mounting fears that an angry and emotionally damaged new generation will enter the insurgency, a possibility that has not escaped the attention of the government or the militants. “Both sides want them... and if these kids continue to grow up in conflict, the threat is that in 10 or 20 years there still won’t be peace here,” said Pechdau. AFP

Police ‘driver’ caught with unregistered firearm in Pattaya Pattaya One

A MAN WHO CLAIMS to be the driver for the wife of a senior police officer in Supanburi Province was arrested by Region 2 Police in South Pattaya late on Tuesday (December 11). Police noticed a white Mitsubishi Pajero featuring the logo of the Royal Thai Police on the passenger door

with a red plate on the front and no license plate on the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was parked outside of a ‘Gentleman’s Club’ on Pratamnuk Hill. Officers waited for the driver to emerge from the club at which point he was approached by officers who wanted to conduct a search of the vehicle. The driver and registered owner of the vehicle, ‘Mai’,

aged 42, claimed he worked as a driver for the wife of a Police Lieutenant Colonel in Supanburi Province, located 100 kms north of Bangkok and was in Pattaya on holiday. A 38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver and 11 bullets were found in the glove compartment which ‘Mai’ claimed belonged to the police officer’s wife.

No license for the firearm could be produced and the man was taken to Pattaya Police Station where he was charged with possession of an unregistered firearm in a public place. Investigations continue at this time and Region 2 Police are now in contact with the apparent owner of the weapon and her husband while ‘Mai’ remains incarcerated for now.

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

ASIA NEWS

Mo Yan: Nobel prize winner and chronicler of a Chinese century M

o Yan has focused an unflinching eye on what he calls the darkness and ugliness of 20th-century Chinese society in a prolific writing career that brought him the 2012 Nobel prize for literature. Mo Yan, one of China’s leading writers of the past half-century, became the first Chinese national and only the second Chinese-language writer to be awarded the coveted honour. The 57-year-old, whose real name is Guan Moye, is perhaps best-known abroad for his 1987 novella Red Sorghum, a tale of the brutal violence that plagued the eastern China countryside – where he grew up – during the 1920s and 30s. The story was later made into an acclaimed film by leading Chinese director Zhang Yimou. In a style which was influenced by the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mo Yan authored other acclaimed works including Big Breasts and Wide Hips, Republic of Wine and Life and Death are Wearing Me Out.

He has also written dozens of other novels, novellas, and short stories, generally eschewing contemporary issues in favour of China’s tumultuous 20th century, in tales often infused with politics and a dark, cynical sense of humour. The backdrops for his various works have included the 1911 revolution that toppled China’s last imperial dynasty, Japan’s brutal wartime invasion, newly Communist China’s failed land reform policies of the 1950s and the madness of Mao Zedong’s 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. Touching on such eras means f lirting with crossing the thin line that divides what is acceptable and what is politically taboo for the Communist Party. His latest novel, 2009’s Frog, is considered his most daring yet, with a searing depiction of China’s “one child” population control policy and the local officials who ruthlessly implement it with forced abortions and sterilisations. The heroine of the novel is a midwife who breaks down

Nobel Literature Prize winner Mo Yan reads in Sweden earlier this month. Photo: AFP in remorse after a drunken hallucination in which she is attacked by thousands of frogs whose croaks are the wails of the babies she has aborted. Despite such content, Mo Yan has so far deftly managed to avoid running into serious trouble with Communist authorities. After winning the award he strove to separate his work from politics, saying it was “a literature victory, not a political victory”. The writer also surprised

critics by responding directly to a question about jailed Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. “I hope he can gain freedom as early as possible,” he said of the dissident. Mo Yan has long trodden a fine line between criticising China’s political establishment and cooperating with it, said Ma Xiangwu, a literature professor at the People’s University in Beijing. “For a long time Mo has occupied a position within the

system, but not totally within it,” he said. “His works are often very critical of society and politics – he’s too complex to be put in a box.” Mo was born in east China’s Shandong province and began writing while serving in the People’s Liberation Army in the early 1980s – choosing Mo Yan, or “Don’t Speak”, as a pen name. The author has said it refers to being told to pipe down as a chatty child, but also to writers letting their works do

the talking for them. He has occasionally had individual books banned, but his most important works have largely remained in print and many have been translated into English and other languages. His Nobel win was touted by China as a victory for the state literature policy of the Communist Party, which can also muzzle critical voices. He was “overjoyed and terrified” at the award, he said. “Winning the Nobel prize has stunned me, as I always thought it was very distant for me,” he said in a recorded interview posted on the Nobel prize website. State-run media were effusive, hailing him as China’s first Nobel literature prize winner. Chinese-born Gao Xingjian – whose works were banned in China – won the 2000 literature award, but as a French national. Beijing loudly denounced Gao’s Nobel, as it did Liu’s 2010 award and a previous peace prize given to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in 1989. AFP

10 WORLD NEWS

Mandela responds well to treatment NELSON MANDELA has a lung infection but is responding to treatment, the South African government said on Tuesday, as the revered anti-apartheid icon spent his fourth day in hospital. “Doctors have concluded the tests, and these have revealed a recurrence of a previous lung infection, for which Madiba is receiving appropriate treatment, and he is responding to the treatment,” said a statement from President Jacob Zuma’s office. The news eased days of speculation about the health of the aging statesman being treated in a Pretoria military hospital. But me d ica l experts warned that for a 94-year-old, any hint of an infection can be serious. Mandela’s wife Graca Machel admitted it was painful to see him growing more frail. AFP

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

BENEATH THE BURQA Afghan women opt for cosmetic surgery D

espite living much of their lives behind a veil, some Afghan women are feeling pressure to conform to ideals of female beauty and are lining up for cosmetic surgery at a handful of clinics in Kabul. A few years ago, most operations would have been to repair war wounds or scars from family violence, acid attacks or attempts at self-immolation by women driven to despair by hard times in a male-dominated society. Now, nose jobs are most popular, but facelifts, breast enhancement and tummy tucks are also sought after. “Ten years ago it was all about repairing scars,” said Dr Aminullah Hamkar, 53, who runs a Kabul clinic. “When I sometimes ask the young people who come here why they want cosmetic operations, they simply say they want to look better and beautiful,” he said. This was a good sign, he said, showing that people, at least in the capital, were moving beyond the violence of a hardline Islamist Taliban insurgency and contemplating

A burqa-clad Afghan women walks on a hilltop everlooking Kabul. Photo: AFP ideas usually reserved for times of peace. “I was always jealous to see my sisters and others had longer and bigger noses while my nose was small and flat,” said Shaida, an 18-year-old girl who had a nose enlargement at

Hamkar’s clinic. Shaida is from the minority Hazara ethnic group, many of whom have slightly Mongolian looks, with almond eyes and noses that are flatter than those of other Afghans. Shaida, who works as a

policewomen, sought cosmetic surgery after seeing some of her friends and colleagues change the shapes of their noses and eyes. “Now that I have a bigger nose, I feel more comfortable and satisfied,” she said smiling.

The two surgeons at the clinic perform about two cosmetic procedures each week, apart from their regular plastic surgery for medical or reconstructive purposes. Most cosmetic operations are done under local anaesthetic to cut costs. And for nose enlargement, instead of using silicon, the surgeons cut cartilage from a rib, carve it to the right shape and use that. A typical nose enlargement costs about US$300 (B9,000), more than a month’s salary for many Afghans, but since the ousting of the Taliban regime 11 years ago, the influx of billions of dollars in aid has led to the emergence of a growing middle class. Mohammad Ibrahim, a former army officer whose daughter wanted to make her nose smaller, says he agreed with the operation as it would make her feel better. “Today we enjoy a relative democracy and I don’t want my daughter to feel ugly and isolated,” he said. “That’s why I easily agreed to bring her here, so she can have a better nose and feel happy.” AFP

Royal prankers to give B16m to family AN AUSTRALIAN RADIO station on Tuesday pledged at least Aus$500,000 (B16 million) to help the grieving family of a nurse duped by a royal prank phone call, after coming under sustained scrutiny over the hoax. Nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who fielded the hoax call from Sydney station 2Day FM to London’s King Edward VII Hospital, was found Friday after apparently committing suicide. The Indian-born motherof-two put the call through to a colleague, who divulged details of the recovery of Prince

William’s pregnant wife Kate from severe morning sickness. The station initially suspended all advertising after the death but said it would resume Thursday, with all profits until the end of the year given to an “appropriate fund that will directly benefit the family of Jacintha Saldanha”. The amount donated would be at least Aus$500,000, it said. “We are very sorry for what has happened,” Rhys Holleran, chief executive of Southern Cross Austereo which owns the station, said in a statement.

45x90 |

In the wake of the death the company suspended all prank calls across its network and cancelled the show which ran the segment. But the station remains under renewed pressure to fully explain how its royal prank call was cleared to air after the shattered hosts said they were not ultimately responsible. In tearful interviews Monda, 2Day FM presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian said that while they made the call to the hospital, the hoax was vetted by others without their involvement. AFP

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THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Centara launches budget hotel brand AsiaTravelTips.com

TH A ILA N D -BASED Centara Hotels & Resorts has launched a new hotel brand, Cosi Hotels, designed for cost-conscious travellers who mostly do all their own bookings online and who are searching for wallet-friendly accommodation. The first Cosi Hotel is projected to open in 2015 and Centara plans to have at least 30 operational by 2020. Cosi Hotels will focus on clearly identified products that include free Wi-Fi everywhere in the hotel, easy and convenient “grab-n-go” restaurants, seminar rooms for corporate guests, and an entertainment corner in the lobby area for movies and live sport. “The room rate will depend on the location, said Suparat Uahwatanasakul, Vice President of Business Development at Centara International Management Co. “However, the average room rate will be approximately B1,000-1,250 a night. Pricing will be dynamic pricing, which prices depends on booking periods and booking conditions.” Thirayuth Chirathivat, CEO of Centara Hotels & Resorts,

said that the Cosi brand has been developed in response to rapid economic expansion within the Asia Pacific region, which is increasing the volume of both domestic and international journeys. “There is enormous growth in travel, and the significant growth of low-cost airlines is allowing people to travel more easily and conveniently,” he said. “Travelling by low-cost airline in the Asean grouping currently accounts for 51 per cent of the aviation industry in the Asean. Further, the Asean Economic Community or AEC will be implemented two years from now, adding further demand. “These factors are leading to the need for convenient accommodation and also value for money. Centara sees a great opportunity to develop a new brand to cover this economic segment.” Centara is in the process of getting construction permission for a prototype hotel, planned to open in 2015. “We intend to expand through the significant destinations of Thailand then … to Asean countries, China, Australia, and New Zealand.”

BUSINESS NEWS 11

Trang hits 1m visitors F

or decades the poor sister of Phuket. Phang Nga and Krabi, the province of Trang is now attracting rapidly increasing numbers of tourists and, on November 29, welcomed its one millionth visitor, Thai tourist Wichaya Kiatyingangsulee. Mr Wichaya was met by Suraphon Svetasreni, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and officials from Trang OrBorJor, Trang Chamber of Commerce and Nok Air, who presented him with a special certificate at the Departure Lounge of Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok before he got on the aircraft to fly to Trang. Trang, with its 199-kilometre shoreline along the Andaman Sea, received a total of 910,000 visitors, domestic and foreign, between January and the end of October. With the number of people arriving daily averaging 3,200, it was calculated that the millionth visitor of 2012 would arrive on November 29. By the end of 2012, Trang is expected to record 1.15 million visitors, an increase of 14 per cent over 2011. Official statistics show that 70 per cent of total visitors are Thai.

Thai Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom and Indian Ambassador Anil Wadhwa.

Asean-India links strengthened WITH THE INDIA-ASEAN CAR RALLY participants having been flagged off from Bangkok, heading north in convoy towards their eventual arrival in India, the Indian Embassy and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) got down to business. They organised a seminar on the theme of “Asean-India Connectivity: Promoting Business Linkages between Asean and India’s North-East”. The seminar was organized as part of commemorations to mark 20 years of IndiaAsean partnership. Focus sectors for the seminar were construction, food processing, hospitality, tourism and skill development,

automotive components, chemicals, retail, logistics and transport. Speakers included Thai Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom; Indian Ambassador to Thailand Anil Wadhwa; Sanjay Kirloskar, Chairman of the CII Asean-ANZ Regional Committee, who is also Chairman and MD of Indian conglomerate Kirloskar Brothers Ltd; and Chen Namchaisiri, Vice Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries. Presentations on a roadmap for AseanIndia connectivity were made. The seminar attracted nearly 170 business people who later took part in a business-to-business session.

One of Trang’s little-known treasures – the elegant Kantang railway station, built in 1913. Factors that have contributed to the tourism growth, the TAT says, are the increased flights by Nok Air and Thai AirAsia, the absence of natural disasters and a stable social and economic situation, “thanks to a combination of private and public sector policies that are designed to ensure a balance between the local cost of living and income levels of the local people”. Most of the foreign visitors, the TAT says, are European, especially from the Scandinavian countries who enjoy long-stay leisure holidays at the beachfront bungalows,

mostly between November and March. More recently, there has been strong growth in arrivals from neighbouring Malaysia, where TAT and the Thai tourism private sector have done extensive promotions. Mr. Charun Chuennaitom, Director of TAT’s Trang Office, said, “Trang is another alternative destination for regional and global visitors. The province has a unique local culture, abundance of natural resources and outstanding cuisine.” Highlights of Trang include the underwater Emerald Cave,

the nearby Mu Ko Petra National Park, and wildlife sanctuaries such as Namtok Khao Chong and Khlong Lamchan Park with their waterfalls, nature trails, and caves. The waters off Trang have also become a refuge of the threatened dugong. Koh Libong is one of the best places to spot these docile sea mammals which have become the unofficial symbol of Trang. Trang city, the provincial capital, is a centuries-old seaport with a multicultural population of Thai, Malay, and Hokkien Chinese, a mixture that influences local cuisine.

12 PROPERTY NEWS

CG image of the pool and gym at the latest Sansiri project in Phuket, dcondo Mine.

Mining the low end BANGKOK DEVELOPER Sansiri continues to show its confidence in the strength of the low-end condominium market in Phuket with is recent sales launch of dcondo Mine. The condo complex, in which Sansiri is investing B740 million, has “a modern tin mine design”, and targets the younger generation. Located on four rai of land

on Praphuketkaew Rd, Kathu, dcondo Mine will have two eight-storey buildings with a total of 436 units in two types: studios at 29 sqm and two-bedroom apartments at 60 sqm. The development will have a swimming pool, a children’s pool, a fitness centre, a multifunction room and more. Prices start at B1.29 million.

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Newcomer Able Asset launches B1.5m condos A nother Bangkok-based property developer, Able Asset, has arrived in Phuket to plunge into the low-end condominium market. On Saturday (December 8) Able held the official launch of its Centrio project at Central Festival, with an appearance by soap opera actress Janie Thienphosuvan and local Gangnam dancers to attract the crowds. The project will go up on Chao Fa West Rd, close to Central, on a five-rai plot opposite the Wichitsongkram School. It will consist of three eightstorey buildings with a total of 504 units ranging from 30 to 60 square meters in floor area. Prices start at B1.49 million and the project is expected to be complete in two and a half years. Able Asset is a new company, founded earlier this year with paid-up capital of B100 million. Heading it is managing director Kasidit Manopinives, a veteran of Tesco-Lotus, where he was head of design and construction for 14 years and then head of property services development for another two. He is also MD of Sittarom

The garden at Centrio is illustrated in a CG image. Residence Co, which jointly developed Baan View Viman Condominium in Hua Hin, which is 90 per cent sold. Common facilities at Centrio will include a lobby, golf putting green, exercise room, swimming pool and 24-hour security system with key card. Target customers, Able

says, are 70 per cent Thais and foreigners already living in Phuket and 30 per cent from nearby provinces. Able Asset’s ambitious plans include two to three projects a year in Bangkok and Greater Bangkok, each valued at B500 million to B1.5 billion. “We have [a significant]

land bank and are looking for more potential locations to be added to our portfolio to support our future projects,” Mr Kasidit said. “We are placing no limits on our development concepts – vertical or horizontal; each project depends on the land we have.”

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A SHORE THING THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

PROPERTY NEWS 13

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Laguna boss KP Ho counters ‘low-end’ critics Alasdair Forbes execeditor@thephuketnews.com

he Banyan Tree Group on Tuesday (December 11) launched its latest product, Laguna Shores, to the press. Along the roads through Laguna, banners proclaim that the 229-apartment development is “in the heart of Laguna”. The apartments, from 40 to 88 square metres in area, with one or two bedrooms, range in price from B3.675 million upwards, and Laguna people are proud of the various designs, which make the most of the available space. The show units, erected in Canal Village, are not big, but they are pleasant and bright, and well thought-out. The units will be sold unfurnished but furniture packages will be available, said Laguna Hotels & Resorts deputy managing director Stuart Reading, at around B400,00 to B600,000. The apartments will be sold leasehold, with the properties available in a rental pool managed under a new brand – as yet unnamed – under the Banyan Tree umbrella. Owners will receive Laguna residents’ privilege cards, which give discounts in the complex, and access to the “dedicated beach area” close to the Xana Beach Club for both owners and guests. In an official statement, Mr Reading said, “Laguna Shores is an exciting step for us that represents our response to the growing number of visitors to Phuket and the changing demographics of our source markets and customers.” Not everyone is quite as excited as Mr Reading, however. A number of people who have bought very expensive homes in the Laguna complex are dead set against the Shores, seeing it as a lurch downmarket in a place they felt was safe from invasion by the hoi polloi. Barry Cager, secretary of the Sai Taan Owners Committee, told The Phuket News, “It came as a very unpleasant surprise. “One of the reasons Sai Taan Owners bought their properties was because of the ‘exclusive’ environment, and this decision by the Laguna Development Company will/has already led to other inappropriate seven-story condominiums being built in this area. “Who will want to buy a residential family home in

KP Ho, above, said that Banyan Tree has a great deal to lose if low price equates with low quality. Below, the living/dining area in the two-bedroom show apartment, viewable in Canal Village.

Laguna for B30 million if they are to share the amenities with a lot of people who have paid very little for their apartments – and what about the adverse effect on property values in the area?” Brian Wilkie, who owns a Dusit Pool Villa and “three other substantial properties in the Laguna area”, wrote of “huge shock and indeed horror when we heard that they now intend not only to join but to

lead a headlong rush downmarket, by building hundreds of apartments starting at B3 million on their most valuable land, right outside the Dusit [Resort] entrance. “Obviously, every single owner of properties in the area that we have talked to feels both deceived and outraged, knowing that the enjoyment and value of their homes will fall steeply. “From the Laguna Proper-

ties share-holders point of view too (and I used to be one) it seems like short-termist commercial suicide. “I can’t think of a major brand anywhere, at least in the property development or hospitality industries, that has successfully marketed and operated high- and low-end

properties together.” At a lunch for press on Tuesday, the Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings, Ho Kwon Ping (known to all in the group as KP), tried to calm fears that the new development will result in the quality of life in Laguna – and prices of existing homes – sliding into a low-quality hole. But he also revealed that he won’t be backing away from the Shores concept – far from it; the concept will be repeated in other parts of the world that Banyan Tree has colonised, in both resort areas and cities. “Luxury doesn’t have to be expensive,” he said. “I think, as the owner of the Banyan Tree brand, and Banyan Tree properties worldwide, I have a lot more to lose than any of these owners if the brand is diluted, degraded, or loses its appeal. “With several hundred million more dollars at stake than our much-respected Dusit Pool Villa owners and everybody else … if this is the downmarket property that they fear, and it’s going to drag down the value of their property, you can imagine the damage it will do to me will be incalculably more. “So the only thing I can say to assure anybody is that if they associate a lower price point and a smaller unit with being downmarket, I can understand that concern, but we can only hope that the [proof] of the pudding is in eating it. “When we do roll it out we would ask them to come and see whether it is something that diminishes the value of their investment. We honestly don’t think so. “We think it will add a lot more vibrancy to Laguna, without making it into a congested place.” He stressed that the build-

ing density proposed “is actually a fraction of the density we could [legally] build at. It’s about 30 per cent of maximum density.” However, he admitted that the criticisms are “a legitimate concern”. “I’ve seen some of the developments in Pattaya and I would be concerned, too, if I were a property owner. “[Owners] might have a slightly different view if they knew from the beginning that Banyan Tree was rolling out a new brand to manage this, because then immediately they would be aware that we would be putting the whole Banyan Tree brand at risk if this thing goes badly wrong; Banyan Tree as a brand would go wrong.” Asked whether he would meet disgruntled owners, he said, “Well, no. I would rather they did it first [contact us], if they have concerns.” But, he added, “I think these concerns are very good from my point of view because it means we have owners who are very committed to their community. What we need to do is talk to them and convince them that this is actually good for everybody. “My question would be, are you really going to get downmarket people? “If everything cheaper is downmarket, then yes. But I’m not sure you get more downmarket people. We may get people who are far more environmentally conscious, because they are younger, than some of these older, richer owners. He added, “I think we should roll out the new Banyan Tree brand pretty quickly and make the point that this is part of the Banyan Tree. I think that would go a long way to assuage [the concerns].”

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14 OPINION

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

Opinion

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

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editor@thephuketnews.com

Gerry’s View

Editorial

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“There’s something about skeletons, whether they are animal or inanimate objects like old houses, or in this case the skeletal remains of an old fishing boat. We have a fascination with the past, and we are left wondering about what the original was like, what it was used for, and how old it is. How many men owned this boat over the decades, was it a successful fishing boat, and why did it end up in this condition. This boat will not and can not reveal its secrets. In another decade, nothing will remain of this boat except this photograph.” Photo: Gerry Cummings

If you have a Phuket photo to share, email it with a caption to editor@thephuketnews.com

he last week has been one of shock and sadness for the island’s expatriates. First, we’ve had the ongoing saga of the murder of Hungarian businessman Peter Reisz, whose mutilated body was found in Patong. He had been stabbed multiple times and bashed in the head, then dumped, wrapped in plastic. At time of press, two Hungarian men have been arrested in relation to the death. One of the suspects, a particularly unsavoury character named Moshe David, was once pulled in and questioned by Thai police after the disappearance in Thailand of a Hungarian billionaire, Laszlo Csepai. The business magnate was spotted on CCTV at an airport in Thailand with David, shortly before he disappeared. But with nothing more to go on, Thai police had to release him. Meanwhile, the hunt continues for missing American surfer Brett Bean. A regular visitor to Phuket – he had spent part of the year here for the last eight years – he was due to fly back to the United States

Comments, Facebook & Twitter Centre open for business

[Re: Surin Beach tourist info centre opens] Wonder how many complaints will be lodged after the New Year’s Eve 3-day party at Surin beach. Upena1

Party like there’s no plans [Re: Party plans ‘a mess’ – Surin restaurateur] The whole Paris Hilton part was just a tease. She’s done this sort of things many times in Las Vegas. People shouldn’t go expecting to see her, though, I don’t know why they would in the first place. Las Vegas Jim Welcome to the future of Phuket -as more investors and

hotels and ex-pats retire here, the larger and bigger the parties will be, more frequently, more and more, this is just the beginning... mej313 Some of the Phuketians will remember that we had smaller but similar events on Nai Harn beach a couple of years ago. They were a great success and as far as I know literally nobody seem to have complaint about it. Please correct me if I am wrong. Fingers crossed that this event will also become a great success and all concerns were for nothing. Peter2001

Reopened to reanalyse and review [Re: Australian Samui crash case reopened]

thephuketnews.com

No indicator. Didn’t stop, no brake light. Wrong road position for right turn. No helmets. Didn’t check mirror or look back. Possibly drinking. No motorcycle licence. So who’s at fault? Dennis

Movie mistake [Re: Film review: Red Dawn] Would have made more sense if Canada invaded. Dave

Bad call for the Prince of Nepal [Re: Nepalese prince in more trouble] It had to happen one day, the road he was taking. Law must take its course. Not sorry for him. Aakash

Number one girl

[Re: Estonian makes education history] Wow, you are the first one indeed! I know you have a really good time here. Keep going girl! Sammie Very bad news for all Nepali People. Keep him 40 Years in jail. Madhav

Gone but never, ever forgotten

[Re: Tributes flow in for BIS Phuket student] Rest in peace little one. I really hope that the society of Phuket and Thailand as a whole will take a stand against these awful, awful drivers on Thailand’s roads. Come on people of Thailand, join together and do the right thing, for the sake of all our children. Heartbroken

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Star spotted in Patong [Re: Van Damme lands in Phuket] Does he know what his name means in Thai?! Stu So what! I’m also in Phuket. Laurie Howells

No room to stand on Thai land [Re: Phuket murder suspect in re-enactment] In no way shape or form am I condoning any criminal action, but I do think that the difficulties expats experience when attempting to buy, lease or rent land or property complicates and compounds so many problems in Thailand. Perhaps, as foreigners, if we were treated like human beings, we would act more like one. Johnny Foreigner

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on November 29 but did not make the flight. Checks showed that Mr Bean left his bungalow in Karon on November 26. His surfboard and other belongings were found in the bungalow, but his wallet, mobile phone and notebook computer were not. His mother, who he would email every day and who had waited in vain for his arrival at Los Angeles Airport, is now on the island, and offering a B50,000 reward for any information that will lead to the discovery of her son. However, the saddest news of all this week at all is that stories like these two – a murder and a missing persons case – seem all-too-common on our sandy shores. While arguably Phuket is no more dangerous than any other major tourist destination – especially when you consider more than 2 million people vacation here each year, a figure set only to rise – these two cases are a reminder of the island’s potential for darkness. It’s not palm trees and sunshine all the time.

TOP 10 STORIES ON thephuketnews.com

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Nepalese prince in more trouble

Phuket murder suspect arrested in Bangkok

‘I didn’t kill Peter Reisz’ says second Phuket murder suspect

9 10

Suspect Moshe David ‘has confessed’ to murder

Van Damme lands in Phuket The dark history of Moshe David ‘It’s no hoax’ – Phuket megaparty organisers Friends rally to save cancer- stricken Phuket expat Phuket party plans ‘a mess’ – Surin restaurateur

Pitbull denies Phuket murder

Visit thephuketnews.com today for all the latest news

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

02 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Learn local culture with new columnist Ajarn Pranee

Natchaya ‘Amp’ Suebsak, owner of Phuket KoKoa Hut

Finding a point Photo: AFP

Why adventurous travellers are visiting the world’s most dangerous places to document exact positions of latitude and longitude > p11

2 ARTS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 14,2012 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER DECEMBER 14,

Phuket people are what they eat POLITE PHUKET Professor Pranee Sakulpipatana, or Ajarn Pranee as she is known on the island, is the founder of the Thai Pernanakan Association of Phuket and an active and prominent member of the Baba community in Phuket.

Above right: Delicious slices of kanom-chan goodness are the metaphysical representation of the metaphorical division of Phuket society.

y foreign friends love to ask me about Thai culture, probably because they know that I am a local Phuketian. I was born here and my family has lived here for four generations. My great grandfather migrated from China 150 years ago. Whenever my foreign friends have problems or indeed questions they ask me and expect me to know as I am the Vice-President of the Thai Pernanakan Association of Phuket and had taught English at the Phuket Rajabhat University for more than 35 years before I retired. When I started my career as an English teacher at the Phuket teacher’s college in 1972, Phuket was still a very inaccessible destination for tourists. I remember back then how local Thais could not quite believe how as a people we could so dramatically change our careers from the tin mining business into tourism. Time has proven otherwise though and now the impossible dream has come true with more than 80 per cent of the population of Phuket in the industry. Now, a coin always has two sides. One is that tourism businesses have brought us wealth, but in turn much of our good tradition and culture has been lost. Some times I think, how can we teach the young generation to be local Thais when all the people

around them are outsiders? For the next few months I will be writing a series of articles on Phuket culture, in order to not only ensure that foreign residents and visitors will better be able to understand the local culture and not make so many mistakes and cultural faux pas, but also the younger generation of Phuketians. To begin with, I’d like to recommend to my foreign friends to try a Thai delicacy as a short cut to learn more about Thai culture. The first dish that I would like you to try is a Thai layered sweet. In Thai we call it “kanom-chan” which has the direct meaning of ‘kanom’, meaning sweet in Thai, and ‘chan’ meaning layer. As a cook you have to be patient as you need to wait after you steam the first layer. Why do you have to wait? Well, you need to wait in order for each layer of the cake to have a clear colour. The second layer can be started when the first layer is sticky to the touch. These kinds of kanom-chans are tra-

ditionally a mixture of colours like soft pink, white and soft violet or yellow. When finished, cut into bite sizes and serve your loved ones with hot coffee on a relaxed day Some of my Bangkok friends often ask me why Phuket people appear not to be as integrated as s advertised on TV. I always answer that we are, but it’s often in a way similar to how we cook our layered cake. We learn to accept our peculiar or different friends by not asking why they practice their religions the way they do. We accept and respect each of the different Phuket communities’ differences. Phuket people have learned to believe since we were very young that the faith of the people can even move a mountain.

EDUCATION 3

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Professional teachers get engaged TEACH BY DESIGN Jason Stanley drjasonstanley@gmail.com

Most teachers base much of our teaching techniques on those teachers we best remember. Who do we remember most? For me... there are more college professors than any other group. So who had the most impact on my early teaching? The professors I liked! But – and this is a huge but – professors are not teachers

What Is Active Brain Based Learning & Teaching?

Teach by Design Jason Stanley

Proven Effective Classroom Methodologies Jason Stanley Ph.D.

The Phuket News is publishing exclusive excerpts from Dr Jason Stanley’s Teach By Design book.

ver the course of this series of Teach By Design articles in The Phuket News I will describe many techniques to bring the research on how the brain learns into the classroom. But before you read the series I think it best I tell you who they can help. When I ask people what they think the biggest difference is between being a college professor and a 1st through 12th or a TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) instructor, the most common answer is the money! Well yeah, that is part of it. But that is not the critical issue (not in this article anyway). Most teachers (me included at one time) base much of our teaching techniques on those teachers we best remember. Who do we remember most? For me it was my 5th grade teacher, my 7th grade maths teacher, my freshman year anthropology professor, my sophomore year astronomy professor, my senior year linguistics professor, and my graduate level prehistory ecology professor. Do you see a trend here? There are more college professors than any other group. So who had the most impact on my early teaching? The professors I liked! They are the ones I remember best. Really, how much can I possibly remember about how Miss Burns in 5th grade taught us? But – and this is a huge but – professors are not teachers! And professional teachers are not professors! It is like saying jet liner pilots are the same as race car drivers. Certainly they are both professionals who control highly sophisticated, fast machines. But as general rule, how well do you think they could do each other’s jobs? Would you get on an airplane piloted by a winning Formula 1 driver who had no pilot training? No! Duh! The basic job of excellent professors is to develop or find the best information in the field and provide it to their students. They are disseminators of high level information and concepts. Staying on top of what is the information is priority number one, closely followed by disseminating and explaining that information as priority number two. As a teacher, however, developing new information is not even a part of your job. Finding and integrating the most important top research? Nope, not that either. Disseminating information? Sure, it is part of the job, even an important part, but nowhere close to the No 1 priority. Your students are very different from university students. University students want to be there, whereas most primary, middle and high school students want to be somewhere else. As a professional teacher your number one job is to create an environment that

Photo: Roy Costello makes your students want to learn. That always includes two things: • Doing those things that will cause your students to become engaged in the lesson – no matter what the subject. • Strong classroom management that supports learning. The good news is that active brain-based learning and teaching (ABBLAT) creates an environment which makes it easy for every interested teacher to become very good at both of these critical areas. The good news is that you don’t necessarily need to become a dictator in order to control the class, nor indulge in “edutainment” to keep your students interest. You don’t need to be a super teacher, just bring who you are and your personal style, learn the ABBLAT systems and techniques, then apply them fully and you will have good classroom management and fully engaged students. Another vital element of a professional teacher’s skill is to understand how students learn. Teach in a way that optimises the way their brains take in and use information. When you make learning as easy as possible you magnify your students’ chances of success. Their increased successes lead to them being more engaged, which in turn leads to your increased success. When you know how your students’ brains work when learning, then disseminating information becomes much, much easier. One of the key elements of professional teaching is to engage your students in a way

that makes them want to be engaged. Get rid of boring lectures by creating situations where they do more talking than you do – every single student should talk more than the teacher in every period. Yes that is possible. Probably not in the way you think, but very possible. The professional teacher also needs to know exactly how well each student is doing at every moment in the class. Are they remembering the information? Do they understand the concepts? If not, did you lose the whole class or only one or two students? Exactly where did you lose the class? How far back do you need to go to reteach to get everyone back on board? This is very important to the professional teacher because the grades your students get are important to you. So if you have consciously or unconsciously patterned your teaching after your favorite professors yet are not teaching in a college environment, you are probably in an uphill battle with bored or unruly students who would rather be somewhere else. It is likely you are not getting the top results you deserve for all the hard work you put in. To understand how to get better results as a professional teacher please follow these monthly Teach By Design articles. See you here next month! I will be happy to address your additional questions concerning the impact of brainbased learning or how to do brain-based teaching. Contact me by email to drjasonstanley@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

4 ENVIRONMENT

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 14,2012 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER DECEMBER 14,

Plea to PM: Help fight dog meat trade Jody Houton editor3@thephuketnews.com

I led several raids and sent suspects to the police. But some local politicians lobbied for the release of the suspects. This discouraged the teams. The dog smuggling networks are big and have local teachers, village headmen and local leaders as suppliers

Soi Dog Foundation President Suchon Jittanonta (second from right) with the heads of the Department of Livestock in Bangkok responsible for investigating transmission of disease and the dog meat trade

he Thai Government has agreed to a request that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra declare a national agenda to end the trade of dogs in Thailand, destined for human consumption. At a seminar held in Bangkok at the Royal Navy Auditorium on November 23, representatives from the Royal Thai Navy, the Canine Police Force, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Social Development and Human security, the Ministry of Public Health and the Department of Livestock Development also suggested running education programmes and campaigns to instil a sense of responsibility and social conscience amongst the population. Former chief of the Department of Livestock Development and chairman of the Thai Veterinary Medical Association Nirandorn Eungtrakulsuk stated that while he believed the new law would improve animal welfare and would help tackle the problem at a certain level, it would not be enough to eradicate the illegal trade because of ‘rampant corruption’ in Thailand. “In the past, I led several raids and sent suspects to the police. But some local politicians lobbied for the release of the suspects. This discouraged the teams. The dog smuggling networks are big and have local teachers, village headmen and local leaders as suppliers. Therefore, provincial governors must focus on tackling corruption,” Mr Nirandorn said. Co-founder of the Phuket-based Soi Dog Foundation (SDF), John Dalley agrees that

Pet

knowledge of who is acting illegally – SDF has told The Phuket News that they have full details of the leaders as they make no secret of their involvement – is not enough to ensure the stopping of the trade. Mr Dalley said, “I believe that the latest initiative to make it illegal to export live dogs without export licenses and health certificates has been brought about by local and international pressure for Thailand to enforce the existing current legislation.” SDF is working with agents in both Thailand and Laos to provide information on planned smuggling operations, and is passing this information on to the authorities. However, there is concern that the

Every month, the best pet wins a B500 voucher from:

decrease in illegal exports from Thailand has resulted in an increase in the number of dogs being collected from Laos to supply the demand. The total number of dogs intercepted in Thailand since August 2011 is quoted as 9,042 – unfortunately owing to poor holding conditions, around 75 per cent of the intercepted dogs have died at the livestock centres. Mr Dalley said, “The Department of Livestock Development, which has been given responsibility for caring for the confiscated dogs, has been given no budget to do so.” As a consequence the SDF is currently providing food, medical supplies and basic equipment such as pressure washers to the centres. However, added Mr Dalley, “This type of aid is unsustainable and so the SDF (among other agencies) is calling upon the government to adequately provide for what are in effect innocent victims of criminal activities. “At present it would appear the policy is to allow the dogs to die of starvation and disease.” A follow-up meeting is planned for later this month in Bangkok. For more information on the Soi Dog Foundation, visit soidog.org

Adopt a dog

LOUIS WANTS A NEW HOME

This delightful ginger moggy named Ms Cartoon belongs to Worraporn “Som” Noiladtee. Ms Cartoon was adopted from the Phuket Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). Her favourite place is the bedroom, and she loves to sleep.

Want to see your pet here? Email your photo to editor1@thephuketnews.com

Louis is 5 and a half years old and has lived at the Soi Dog Shelter since she was 12 months old. She’s healthy, active and full of fun. She’d love a house with a garden and people to make a fuss of her. She’s loving, friendly and would make a lovely family pet. Louis is sterilised and fully vaccinated. If you can offer Louis a new home please email cindy@soidog.org or phone the Soi Dog shelter on 081 788 4222. You can also visit our website www.soidog.org or follow us on Facebook. If you are interested in adopting a dog please do not buy from the markets. Soi Dog Foundation has over 200 dogs and puppies available for adoption at any time. For more information on how to adopt visit soidog.org. All animals are fully vaccinated and desexed. Young puppies will be desexed free of charge as soon as old enough.

HEALTH 5

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Taking away the Walk off the plane looking fly allure of the pack Y ou don’t need a wallet full of cash to walk off an 18-hour flight looking like a celebrity, according to Virgin Atlantic’s cabin crew. Although it may seem impossible to achieve, Virgin’s staff says to achieve the fresh faced and elegant strut out of the terminal isn’t as difficult as it seems. Helping ‘Plane Jane’ look like ‘Jet-setting Susan’, Virgin Atlantic cabin crew share their beauty and style secrets:

Bangkok Post & The Phuket News

law forcing tobacco firms to sell cigarettes in plain packets came into effect in Australia on December 1 in an effort to strip any glamour from smoking and prevent young people from taking up the habit. All cigarettes sold in Australia will now be in identical, plain packages in a world first after the government overcame legal challenges from the tobacco industry. Under the new laws all tobacco products must be sold in drab, olive-brown packets with expanded graphic health warnings which feature images such as mouth cancer. The new law, the first of its kind anywhere the world, came into force despite a vigorous legal challenge by big tobacco, which argued that the legislation infringed its intellectual property rights by banning trademarks. A cashier at a Sydney newsagent said many customers reported finding the new packaging, which must feature graphic images such as a gangrenous foot, mouth cancer or a skeletal man dying of cancer, off-putting. Sanjid Amatya said smokers were asking to pick and choose the images on their packets, with the photograph of gangrenous toes bothering many consumers, as well as one of a sick child affected by cigarette smoke. “Some of them don’t care what the picture is,” Amatya said from the store in the suburb of Wynyard where he has worked for three years. “But some say ‘Why did they change the pictures? It’s so awful’.” Anti-smoking campaigners have welcomed the new law, which stipulates that 75 per cent of the front of packets must feature the graphic images. Stafford Sanders from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Australia said that research had suggested people would be put off by the packaging. “It’s likely to make people more aware of the health warnings,” he said. “And it will remove the potential for the packets to be used to mislead people. And it will de-glamourise the packet.” Sanders said some people had become quite upset and offended by the images. “The images are supposed to be dis-

Australian cigarette packs sans brands. turbing, to be confronting. They are supposed to have an effect,” he said. “If the images stop one child from taking up smoking, hasn’t it been worth you being offended by it?” The number of smokers in Australia has dropped from about 50 per cent in the 1950s to 15 per cent now and the government is aiming to push it down to 10 per cent by 2018. With 80 per cent of smokers starting before the age of 18, and 99 per cent before they turn 26, health authorities hope the new packaging will have the biggest impact on young people. Whether similar restrictions are introduced in Thailand remains to be seen. Thailand is seen by many as comparatively pro-active in reducing the availability and ‘glamour’ of smoking, with visitors to the country often finding it incredibly difficult to actually find somewhere that stocks cigarettes – convenience stores keep them hidden within a metal case behind the counter. This is because tobacco wares are not allowed to be displayed in public which includes no advertising, anywhere. On state television channels, even movie scenes which include a character smoking are blurred out. In 2005, Thailand was one of the first countries to implement graphic health warnings and as of January 2012, the Thai government stated that ‘toxic constituent information’ should be displayed on no less than 60 per cent of the side panel of cigarette packets in Thailand. This has led to some rather gruesome images on the packs, including blackened lungs, cancerous growths and rotten digits. Despite these steps 27 per cent of the Thai population still smoke – 47 per cent of men and 9 per cent of women. Around 55,000 Thai people died from tobaccorelated diseases in 2006.

1. H2O is the way to go! Keeping well hydrated by avoiding caffeinated beverages, alcohol and salty foods as well as drinking lots of water pre-travel and on-board will save your skin. It will also help you get those precious hours of sleep in. 2. Softly softly. Moisturising well pre and during the flight will also help your skin from drying out. 3. Don’t shovel on the makeup. Use a mineral or light foundation, if any at all, to avoid skin dehydration. Then prior to landing you can freshen up with towelettes and apply a new, light layer of makeup. 4. Best foot forward. Being on top of your glam game doesn’t mean you have to wear sky-rocketing heels on board. However, this does not mean we are giving you permission to sport your dullest tracksuit bottoms!

5. It is possible to wear comfortable clothes that look good. Our top picks would be casual dresses, with ballet flats, stockings, a cardigan and a scarf. 6. Back to basics. Get as much sleep as possible while flying will leave you looking and feeling more refreshed. Eye masks, travel pillows, ear plugs or noise cancelling headphones are commonly known tricks of the trade. 7. Our tip is to try to relax, the same way you would do as if you were at home, whether that involves clearing your head of stressful thoughts, listening to some familiar music or meditating. If all else fails and you still look a horror, crew says a good strong red lippy will never fail to brighten up the face. e-Travel Blackboard

6 PEOPLE

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 14,2012 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER DECEMBER 14,

Phuket’s chocolate queen Tanyaluk Sakoot reporter4@thephuketnews.com

I have managed to find something that I love. I don’t try to focus on the performance too much, because mine is a business of pleasure. I am delighted whenever I see customers with a happy smile. This I consider success

n certain circles Natchaya ‘Amp’ Suebsak, the owner of the Phuket franchise of KoKoa Hut, is known as the Chocolate Queen. Although many women may claim it so, for Amp, chocolate is quite literally her life, but it took her almost dying to realise it. “I was born in Phuket and my parents were government officers, so it was naturally expected for me to have a professional ‘serious’ job. So after high school, I went to Bangkok and studied Communication Arts.” Like students all over the world, Amp enjoyed her student days, and referred to herself as an ‘active and confident’ person. She met lots of people and had a great time in the capital and was thinking about the next step of her life, which was to be a Masters degree at the Faculty of Communication Arts. However that all changed when she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. “At that moment, my dream just stopped and I decided to come back to Phuket.” Luckily through the Thai Red Cross Society donated a kidney and she eventually recovered. Amp has had a new kidney for three years now and has achieved much in that time, large in part because of inspiring outlook. “I believe that anything is possible. If we do something with love, faith and confidence and always listen to your heart, you will be fine.” Once Amp got her new kidney, she started work at True Cooperation, first as a freelance host, then on the radio and then as a PR. “After a while I realised that I wanted to have my own small business and as fate would have it I met the Events Manager of KoKoa Hut Chocolate.” The reason that she decided to leave a job in which she was highly qualified and experienced and instead

go into the chocolate business was a simple and rather endearing one. “It’s because I love chocolate,” explains Amp with a smile, “So this made me quite sure that I wanted to this business and have more shops in Phuket. I also think ‘KoKoa Hut’ is very interesting.” A stand out feature of the company for Amp is KoKoa Hut’s use of Thai fruit and cereal to create a uniquely Thai taste. Amp’s favourites include Suncho (chocolate covered sunflower) and Duiro (chocolate-coated durian). Amp’s plans for the future include opening up a ‘KoKoa Hut Chocolate Shop’, the likes of which can only be found in Bangkok. In the meantime, however, chocoholics can purchase KoKoa Hut products from Phuket HomePro Village, Tiny Coffee and McDonald’s. The secret to Amp’s success and happiness is one and the same: “I have managed to find something that I love. I don’t try to focus on the performance too much, because mine is a business of pleasure. I am delighted whenever I see customers with a happy smile. This I consider success.”

Top: A wonderful assortment of chips, cereals, tropical fruit and of course lots and lots of chocolate. Above: Natchaya ‘Amp’ Suebsak managed to combine chocolate and business to make her dreams come true.

WEIRD WORLD 7

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

THE BIG LIST

DOOMSDAY SCENARIOS

There are only two weeks left until the end of 2012 – let’s hope we make it that far. According to the “Mayan prophecy” the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012 – just one week from today. There’s no sign of impending doom so far, but here are some of the possible doomsday scenarios that could bring about the end of the world in the next seven days.

Giant Space Rocks: An impact with a comet or asteroid from space may be the most likely doomsday scenario – giant space rocks have done serious damage here on earth before. The extinction of the large dinosaurs 65 million years ago is thought to have been caused by the impact of a massive fireball from space, up to 15 kilometres wide, that caused either a sizzling global heat-wave or a freezing global winter (scientists aren’t sure.) The good news in 2012 is that astronomers have ruled out any threats from space for the rest of the year – and at any time in the foreseeable future. Super Volcanoes: The Mount St Helens eruption in the US in 1980, one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recent history, released 24 megatonnes of energy – about 1,600 times the force of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. But the Mount St Helens blast would be just a firecracker compared to a “supervolcano” (or “megavolcano”) eruption, which could be up to 1,000 times as violent. The eruption would also propel millions of tonnes of ash into the atmosphere, blocking out the sun for years. The potential threats include the volcanoes of the Rabaul caldera in Papua New Guinea (such as Tavurvur, pictured above), and the Popacatapetal caldera beneath Mexico City. Nuclear Annihilation: The chances of a global nuclear catastrophe have shrunk since the end of the Cold War 15 years ago, but there are still enough nuclear weapons in world arsenals to destroy the whole world several times over in the next week or so. Although the global stockpile of H-bombs has been cut dramatically from the high point of 65,000 warheads in 1985, more than 19,000 functioning nuclear warheads still remain, with about 2,000 warheads ready to launch at any time and another 3,000 on operational standby. Global Methane Burps: Some scientists fear that a global rise in sea temperature could trigger the sudden release of massive reserves of methane gas from the sea floor and polar permafrost zones – resulting in runaway global warming that could make the world rapidly inhospitable for humans. One scientist has even warned of massive explosions of burning methane erupting from the sea, so at least the end of the world in this doomsday scenario could be spectacular – more of a bang than a whimper. Mad Science: High-energy experiments like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe are plumbing the limits of the known universe by recreating the phenomenally high temperatures that existed at the time of the Big Bang, 14 million years ago. No-one’s entirely sure what they will find, which leaves some very slight room for concern that such experiments could create swarms of miniature black holes that could grow to consume the earth, or might even spark a supernova – assuring the swift annihilation of everything for about a million miles around. Last year a court in Germany dismissed a lawsuit by a small group of scientists who wanted to shut down the LHC, in case it all goes wrong and brings about the end of the world.

Lu Zhenhai’s “ark” under construction in Xinjiang, China, in preparation for the end of the world. Photo: AFP

Chinese ‘ark’ prepares for end-of-world floods

Chinese man has spent his life savings building an “ark” to escape the end of the world, which he fears will happen next week. Lu Zhenhai, from Urumqi in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang – about 3,000 kilometres from the nearest sea coast – is so convinced by the so-called “Mayan Prophecy” of the end of the world in December 2012 that he’s designed and built a disaster-proof ark that he hopes will keep him safe from a global flood. Mr Lu started building his ark in 2010, and has since spent his life savings of around one million Yuan (B4.8 million) to get it ready.

The squarish vessel is built from wood and steel. It doesn’t look like it would survive the end of the world, but Mr Lu is confident that it will keep him and his family safe from the coming apocalypse – that is, any sort of apocalypse that features a global flood. Mr Lu’s ark is 21 metres long, 15 metres wide and displaces about 140 tonnes of water – so there’s not much room for passengers, let alone wildlife. Mr Lu accepts that building the ark is a gamble – and in the event that a global flood doesn’t trouble landlocked Xinjiang, he’s ready to use it to help flood victims elsewhere. He says he will use the vessel as a tourist attraction if there’s no flood.

‘Ghoul woman’ preyed on raw chickens

51-year-old woman was caught eating a raw, bleeding chicken she had just stolen and killed, say police in Petchabun province. The woman, Jandee Sungtong, confessed to sneaking out at night to steal chickens from village houses, and eating them raw because she was hungry and had no money. The police say more than 100 chickens had gone missing. One couple, Prasert Janwai and Varunee Janwai, said they heard chickens shrieking for many nights and more than 20 birds had disappeared from their coop. When they hid and waited for the chicken thief, they saw Jandee appear and catch one of the birds, before wringing its neck and starting to eat it raw. Some of the villagers think Jandee is no ordinary thief but is a ghoul known as a “Phi Porb” – a creature that takes over a human body and haunts a village at night, eating the entrails of people and farm animals. So far, no people have been reported missing in the village.

“Ayutthaya Night Market” A taste of traditional yet rare Thai cuisine. Experience the Ayutthaya Night Market at Black Ginger, set amidst onyx waters. Enjoy the old time hawker showcase, an ancient Phuket practice. Recipes are traditionally Thai with a unique twist and can only be found at Indigo Pearl. Local culture with luxurious standards.

Every Friday from 6:30 to 10:30 pm with unlimited Ayutthaya buffet cuisine, Free flow selected beverages. THB 1,490++ per person 50% off for Children 5-12 yrs Complimentary for Children under 5 yrs For reservations, please email: bastien@indigo-pearl.com or call 076 327 006, 327 075 Indigo Pearl Phuket, Nai Yang Beach and National Park, 83110, Thailand

8 DINING

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 14,2012 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER DECEMBER 14,

A brunch by the bay Jody Houton editor3@thephuketnews.com

Clockwise from above: A delicious array of desserts and cakes; Executive Chef Sarawut Chingchai; the resort’s Savoury Restaurant.

here are few things more pleasant than spending a Sunday afternoon enjoying a leisurely lunch. We are fortunate that Phuket is blessed with plenty of places to choose from: Some are huge hedonistic affairs with free-flow beverages, live music and various forms of entertainment, while others are more lowkey, sophisticated and relaxed occasions, which includes the Vijitt Resort’s Sunday Lunch Buffet. There are indoor and outdoor sections at the Savoury Restaurant at Vijitt where diners can enjoy an afternoon of eating and drinking while savouring the views of Friendship Beach and Chalong Bay. For those foodies who appreciate nice baps and buns, there are a huge selection of fresh bread and all manner of cheeses (Brie, Emmental, Gouda, Edam), jams and cold cuts to go with them. Onto the main courses – there’s a tasty live pasta station, a barbecue meat station and fresh seafood on ice station, with chefs ready and waiting to cook your choice of food to perfection. To round off your meal, there’s a popular chocolate fountain in which diners can drown a selection of fruit, cheese cake, blueberry tart and creme brulee. The Vijitt’s Sunday Lunch Buffet is from 12-3pm, and is B1,099 per person with free soft drinks, B1,399 per person with a bottle of white or red per couple, or B3,099 per person with a bottle of bubbly per couple.

Truffles products now available in Phuket

company specialising in truffle products has now arrived on Phuket. Truffles Exclusive, based in Koh Samui, is now offering its products to consumers in Phuket. The man behind the company is Italian photographer and writer Claudio Cerquetti. His family have been farming truffles in Italy since 1911, and work closely with the Sabatino Tartufi company. Mr Cerquetti, above right, is the Thailand ambassador for the Sabatino Tartufi truffle company. Jorge De La Torre

was recently named the representative of Truffles Exclusive for Phuket. All products distributed by Truffles Exclusive are 100 per cent organic and approved by FDA and USDA American institu-

tions. Truffles are the diamonds of gastronomy and the company is present in more than 20 luxury five star hotels in Samui and more than 15 in Phuket. More information: Jorge 089 725 6994.

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012 List your restaurant here: call 076 612 550 or email sales@thephuketnews.com EUROPEAN

Tre by DoublePool Villas

Bodega & Grill

Bodega & Grill is situated on a picturesque patio by the lagoon. The restaurant serves premium char-grilled steaks and seafood from a wood-fired oven, as well as authentic homemade pastas, risottos and paellas. Bodega’s generous steaks are available in portions of up to 1.2 kilogram. Angsana Laguna Phuket, Cherngtalay; 076 324 101

An array of culinary experiences is offered to tempt and intrigue in Tre - the exclusive contemporary French Vietnamese restaurant set among the superb surroundings of the DoublePool Villas. Tre’s signatures dishes include scallops and green apples and tartar with pan-fried foie gras. Banyan Tree Phuket, Cherngtalay

INTERNATIONAL

DINING GUIDE 9

ITALIAN

SEAFOOD

Acqua

Trisara Seafood

Connoisseurs of fine cuisine can revel in Acqua’s experiential concept. The Acqua restaurant experience promises to deliver only the freshest of ingredients, sourced from only the best producers both local and international. Taste explosions from the portfolio of Chef Alessandro Frau, of both traditional & contemporary are offered. Kalim Bay-Patong 076 618 127

The first truly world-class destination seafood dining experience on Phuket. A private entrance leads guests either to an outdoor, beachfront deck or to the cool, relaxed interior. The menu is a balance between local and imported seafood prepared and served in a Mediterranean way. Lunch 12.30pm-3pm, Dinner 7pm-10.30pm (Closed Sundays). Trisara, 076 310 305

Mom Tri’s Villa Royale

Weaves Restaurant

Art Caffè

RE KÁ TA Beach Club

Enjoy fine dining with panoramic sea views in sensually indulgent setting. Delicious Thai and European creations are served on the open-air terrace. Mom Tri’s Villa Royale is the winner of the Wine Spectators Award of Excellence. Situated on the only road into to Kata Noi Beach. Reservations recommended. 076 333 568; momtriphuket.com

Watch the evening sunlit ocean in the lavish and contemporary ambient atmosphere that is the Weaves restaurant. With its intimate low lit private dining, Weaves serves a variety of delectable Asian and International fusion cuisine, rich enticing desserts and tropical blended refreshments. Manathai Resort Phuket, Surin Beach, 076 270 900.

The idea of Art Caffè comes from the need to have a place to stop and enjoy something different. Meet friends, exchange ideas, propose initiatives, organizing events or reflect only reading, watching and perhaps enjoying a good cup of coffee. The exhibition space is an affront to the repetitiveness of the artistic culture of the island. Naiharn, 076 388 546

The beachfront restaurant offers modern innovative cuisine with a strong focus on seafood. In the evening RE KÁ TA transforms with Kata’s magical sunsets and cool sounds along with the delicious drinks and tapas, right on the beach. Open daily 6.30am-11pm; 184, Koktanode Road, Kata Beach (next to Boathouse); 076 330 421; info@rekataphuket.com, rekataphuket.com

Irish Times

DaVinci

Baan Kalim Restaurant & Seafood

Discover newest stylish restaurant in modern vintage setting. Creative and unique salad and grill menus are served while you experience a delectable dining in romantic and intimate atmosphere with a reasonable price tag. Open 11am-10pm. 2nd Floor, HomePro Village, Chalong; 076 383 244

The only Irish owned and managed Irish Pub in Phuket. A real Irish Pub at the heart of Phuket’s world famous nightlife. In this traditionally styled Irish pub you will find a very warm welcome from the Management and their fantastic staff. All your favourite Irish food and beverages. Jungceylon, Patong Beach; irishtimespub-phuket.com

Great food and people you know! Authentic Italian cuisine in Nai Harn area. Three different dining areas, cocktail lounge, children’s play area, Delicatessen, live music....DaVinci is not just a meal, it is an experience of taste, atmosphere and more. Restaurant open daily 5pm-11.30pm; Deli open 11am-6pm; Sunday close; Naiharn 076 289 574. davinciphuket.com

Start your evening with delicious food and fine wine. Pick the perfect spot to take in stunning views of Patong bay, as the evening breeze surrounds you. Relax and enjoy live music to make your evening into that truly wonderful and unforgettable dining experience. Open daily 11am-Midnight. Patong; 076 618 125; baan kalim.com; baankalimrestaurant@hotmail.com

The Caddy Shack

Super Natural

Diavolo

THAI

Tablespoon Salad & Grill

Baan Vijitt Restaurant

Come in to experience our famous Sunday roasts, we also serve full English breakfasts from 9:30am, lunch & dinner til late & daily specials, with 3 big screens, come in & watch your favourite sports. You’ll find us next to the entrance of Loch Palm Golf Course in Kathu. Great food, great banter and great music. Don’t miss this hidden treasure. Kathu; 087 993 8737

Super Food deserves a Super Location. SuperNatural and more. The only waterfront restaurant in Phuket serving exciting raw vegetarian cuisine in addition to our delicious seafood, Thai and International menu. Great selection of fresh to order juices & smoothies, as well as great wines and chilled beers. Open 365 days a year. Facebook SupernaturalPhuket, 2.5km south of Chalong Circle.

A menu of modern Mediterranean influences created by Chef Ryan to tantalize the senses in a modern ambience. Offering everything from fresh seafood pastas to simple good pizzas. An impressive selection of well priced beverages and stunning sea views complete the experience. Open daily for lunch or dinner. Paresa Resort, Kamala Beach; 076 302 000

FRENCH

Gallery Cafe by Pinky

JAPANESE Tamarind Restaurant

Breeze Restaurant

Phuket’s most exciting new restaurant is situated on the waterfront at Cape Yamu. Chef Cheryl Johnson is providing diners with her innovative modern French interpretations of local ingredients. Open from Tuesday to Saturday for dinner, and from Wednesday to Saturday for lunch. Our menus change frequently. Cape Yamu, Paklok; 081 271 2320

Gallery Cafe by Pinky proudly present to you cafe food at its best. Whether you’re looking for an excellent breakfast or a quick light lunch or dinner plus an outstanding range of fine wines or cocktails. A homemade cake or freshly roasted premium coffee. Open everyday from 8am 10pm. Rassada Road, Phuket Town. 089 103 7000. Facebook page ‘Gallery cafe by Pinky‘. www.gallerycafe-phuket.com

To complement an already distinctive cuisine, Tamarind is bringing to the island high quality authentic Japanese cuisine, courtesy of Master Chef Shiraishi. Gracing our Japanese menu will be fresh sushi, sashimi, healthy salads, yakitori and tempura and much more. Tamarind is your ultimate destination to savour the best Japanese cuisine in Phuket. Banyan Tree Phuket, Cherngtalay

A half-century old Sino-Portuguese style house at The Vijitt Resort Phuket offers a unique authentic experience of Thai cuisine with a focus on regional specialties. Thai Select Premium Award certifies the quality and standard of product and service here. The Vijitt Resort Phuket, Rawai; 076 363 600; fb@vijittresort.com

Talung Thai

The restaurant has a stunning sunset location, offering views of the Andaman Sea. The menu of southern Thai specialties and true local dishes, are not seen on many other restaurant menus in Phuket. Chill with a cocktail from our award wining mixologist at sunset and then relax with authentic Thai cuisine. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Paresa Resort, Kamala; 076 302 000

10 EXPLORE

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 14,2012 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER DECEMBER 14,

Discovering the life aquatic JAMIE’S PHUKET Jamie Monk editor@thephuketnews.com

There’s all kinds of species at the aquarium from moray eels to lionfish to angelfish, batfish, lobsters, razor shrimpfish – most are species found in Thailand, and also some oddities like electric eels

never seem to tire of the Phuket Aquarium even after (about) 20 visits over the years, maybe more. We went the first time in 2001 when our daughter was a few months old and loved her reactions to the fish. We took her again a few months later and noticed how, as an older baby, she paid more attention to the marine life. As she got older, different things fascinated her, and once she could start asking questions, well then Dad the Diver could start explaining all kinds of interesting fishy facts! It’s been the same with our son who is now 7 years old. They always have new questions and it’s always fun to visit the aquarium with them. Phuket Aquarium is located at the end of Cape Panwa, to the SE of Phuket Town. I like the area a lot, one of our favourite restaurants is in the Panwa area, and there’s some lovely scenery, particularly if you turn off the main road down to the aquarium and take the smaller road along the west side of the cape with views across Chalong Bay. On the way you also pass the turn off to Khao Kad viewpoint. The entry fee is not high, just B100 for adults, B50 for kids. It’s not a huge aquarium, but has expanded little by little over the years and there are plans for more. In the first room by the entrance are many small tanks, with all kind of fish. There’s all kinds of species from moray eels to lionfish to angelfish, batfish, lobsters, razor shrimpfish – most are local species found in Thailand, and also some oddities like electric eels. The walkthrough

If you’ve got the weekend off, visit the Phuket Aquarium at the end of Cape Panwa. tunnel was not there when we first visited, it only opened in 2005. Not a huge tunnel to be sure, but still, there are some little sharks in there – blacktip and leopard sharks, jacks, a big Napoleon wrasse, stingrays and more. Always a hit with the kids, and with me! There’s another pretty big tank that contains several huge groupers. And plenty of small tanks containing such little beauties as shrimps or seahorses. When you exit the indoor section of Phuket Aquarium, you’ll find a little snack and drink shop and a souvenir shop – some of the items for sale are tacky, some are pretty nice. The aquarium and attached ma-

rine biological center do good work, and with the entry fee being low, a small purchase is helpful. Further round is a nature trail, a small kids playground, and the there is also a marine biological center with an endangered species unit. Here at the aquarium turtles are bred/ reared and also injured turtles are looked after. We sometimes see big turtles with bits of flipper missing or chunks missing from their shells, no doubt as a result of contact with a boat. Read the full version at jamie-monk. blogspot.com. Jamie works at liveaboard dive specialists Sunrise Divers in Karon, 084 626 4646, sunrise-divers.com

TRAVEL 11

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

‘Looking for nothing’ in the Iraqi desert

Prashant Rao editor@thephuketnews.com

Using a GPS receiver, Ruba Husari finds her sixth confluence point several kilometres (miles) from the village of Qalaat Muzeibleh, near Badra, south east of Baghdad, on October 18, 2012. The spot marked the exact geographic intersection of a latitude and longitude point – 33 degrees north and 46 degrees east – one of several in Iraq and around the world that adventurous travellers are looking to document as part of an Internet-based project. Photo: AFP

t the end of a research trip to an oil field in east Iraq, Ruba Husari took a detour to visit a site she had wanted to see for some time. When she arrived it was barren – but still she was delighted. Less than 10 kilometres from the Iranian border, Husari’s destination was nondescript and unremarkable – a 20 minute walk from a pothole-filled road and several kilometres from the tiny village of Qalaat Muzeibleh, with the Badra oil field barely visible in the distance. But the spot marked the exact geographic intersection of a latitude and longitude point – 33 degrees north and 46 degrees east – one of several in Iraq and around the world that adventurous travellers are looking to document as part of an internet-based project. “It’s a fantastic way of exploring the country,” said Husari, whose day job involves running the iraqoilforum.com website. After successfully managing to locate and stand at the precise spot where the two lines intersected, she triumphantly raised a clenched fist and jokingly declared, “If they ever discover oil here, I’m claiming it!” The visit to the “confluence point” was her sixth in Iraq in the past three years, having first been told about the Degree Confluence Project by Dubai-based friends who spent weekends camping in the Emirati desert and driving off-road vehicles, often in search of the points themselves. Of Iraq’s 40 confluence points, just 14 have been “discovered”, many by Husari but also by others in the oil industry, and some American and British soldiers who were stationed near confluence points after the 2003 US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hus-

sein. The Degree Confluence Project began in 1996, the brainchild of Alex Jarrett, who visited the intersection of 43 degrees north and 72 degrees west with a friend in the American state of New Hampshire after buying a GPS receiver. It was the first of 15 such visits he made to various confluence points in the United States. “It was a fun journey (to the first confluence point),” Jarrett, who is no longer actively involved in the project, told AFP by telephone. “And I came up with the ridiculous idea that we should just randomly post a website and let’s visit all these points in the world and see what happens.” “I had no inkling that there would be very much interest.” Since the project was founded, more than 6,000 confluence points from around the world have been documented on www. confluence.org, a volunteer-run website, but around 10,000 are still to be found, even after discounting intersection points in the oceans and near the Earth’s poles. Husari’s own efforts have taken her on a multitude of adventures in Iraq – she has rowed a tiny canoe through the southern marshes and driven through the desert of Najaf province south of Baghdad, all armed with her Garmin GPS system and an array of Google Maps printouts. She even had to abandon one attempt because those accompanying her refused to go further, warning she was straying into territory west of Baghdad where Al-Qaeda-linked militants still held significant sway. Sometimes, though, while the trip can be

Over 90 Cities, One Perfect Gateway. SilkAir and Singapore Airlines Connecting you to Places.

an adventure, the destination itself yields little in the way of photographs or novelty. “One time in Algeria, I had to cross beautiful big rolling sand dunes, I passed old antique Arab wells of water,” said Rod Maher, a 54-year-old seismology expert now living in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil. “But then when I hit the confluence point, it was all flat. There was nothing around. Getting to it was fun, though, and I saw things I wouldn’t have otherwise.” Maher, a native of Dover in England, noted that the fun in searching for confluence points was the fact that you never knew what you would see. “When you go to a country for the first time, you say, ‘OK, we’ll go see this temple,’ or something like that. But these confluence points are so random, it’s like a mini-adventure.” “You’re going to a specific point, but you have no idea what’s there. It’s quite a bit sad, if I can say that,” he joked. Among the most difficult conversations many confluence-hunters face are those with perplexed locals, especially in remote locales where residents are suspicious of outsiders who claim to only be looking for otherwise unremarkable points on geographic maps. “It’s difficult to tell them I’m trying to find a place that’s only recognisable on a map, on a piece of paper, or on my GPS,” said Husari, a British citizen of Palestinian descent. “Some of the drivers and guys I take with me think I’m just mad, to go to the middle of the desert to look for, what is to them nothing.” “Actually,” she added, “I am looking for nothing.” AFP

12 GAMING

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 14,2012 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER DECEMBER 14,

IN BRIEF Gambling License for Zynga? Zynga, one of the most popular game providers on social sites like Facebook, have applied for a gambling license from the Nevada Gaming Commission in the United States so that its users can make realmoney bets. The Nevada Gaming Control Board will review the San Francisco company’s application within the next 12 to 18 months. As it stands, Zynga Poker is the only game that uses real currency to buy more chips though the users only get virtual currency to cash out.

Free Street Fighter X Megan Man game A new 8-bit game PC downloadable game will be released on December 17 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of both Mega Man and Street Fighter franchises. Street Fighter X Mega Man was developed by Capcom fan Seow Zong Hui along with support from the company. The game takes place across eight Street Fighter-themed levels, each with its own boss. The soundtrack was created by another fan, Luke Esquivel. Street Fighter X Mega Man will be available at Capcomn’s official website at Capcom-Unity.com.

New Metal Gear Solid game? The Spike Video Game Awards premiered several trailers of games to be released in 2013, one of which has caused quite a stir in that it looks eerily similar to Metal Gear Solid 3 and has the blogosphere going mad.

Cheat of the Week BioShock 2 “Buddy Bots”

When security bots appear after an alarm is triggered, hack them and they will stick around and fight on your side. To hack them easily, stun them first with an electric attack.

Do you remember Mega Man X?

Walking Dead game R takes top Spike award

he Spike Video Game Awards last week saw several obvious winners and a few surprises as The Walking Dead: The Game took home “Game of the Year” accolades. The awards, which took place in Culver City, California, were hosted by actor Samuel L Jackson, who presented several world première trailers of video games to be released sometime in 2013. The zombie franchise’s production company, Telltale Games, also took home the “Studio of the Year” award, the “Best Adapted Video Game” and “Best Downloadable Game” prize. “Look, Walking Dead fans, this is obviously for you,” creator Robert Kirkman told reporters. “Thank you so much. You guys watch the TV show. You read the comics. You play the video games. You make all this possible.” Borderlands 2 creator Gearbox Software took home the most awards at the VGAs, picking up “Best Shooter”, “Best Multiplayer Game”, “Best Per-

formance by a Human Male” for Daemon Clarke, and the viewer-voted “Character of the Year” for Claptrap, the game’s robot character. Journey, fresh off its Grammy nomination, won “Best Independent Game”, “Best PlayStation 3 Game”, and “Best Original Score”. “We made Journey for you, to show that games can be something different,” said the game’s executive producer Robin Hunicke, “independent, experimental, moving, emotional, modern, inclusive, different.” The award for “Best Sports Game” was no surprise: Fifa 13, while Need for Speed Most Wanted won the “Best Driving Game” award. Halo 4 took home a few awards including “Best Xbox 360 Game” and “Best Graphics”. Trailers for upcoming titles The Last Us, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2; BioShock Infinite; Dark Souls II and The Phantom Pain were featured throughout the show.

‘Journey’ earns first video game Grammy nomination

he video game industry scored a first last week when the US’s National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences nominated Journey for a Grammy in the “Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media” category. The game will compete for the award with The Artist and Hugo, two highly-regarded films and predictable choices. The academy decided to make video games eligible for a Grammy award back in April of this year. The soundtrack was composed by Austin Wintory, who also scored the music for the games flOw and Flower for gaming outfit thatgamecompany.

ers have reached a conclusion in the game. The soundtrack charted higher than any previous game ever on the Billboard Charts after its debut back in April. Journey’s score was also No 1 in soundtrack downloads on iTunes all over the world earlier this year. “Other than a song featured in Wintory was also nominated in Civilization 4 that originated on a 2009 by the International Film different album, no song specificalMusic Critics Association for ly made for a videogame has ever “Breakout Composer of the Year.” been up for a Grammy,” Blastr.com Journey’s orchestral soundtrack reported. is a far cry from the usual osAlso nominated were The Dark tentatiousness of gaming music. Knight Rises, The Girl with the Journey’s soundtrack is unique in Dragon Tattoo, and The Adventhat several classical pieces are tures of Tintin, which was scored used throughout the game’s world, by famed Hollywood composer John Williams. and it never feels as though gam-

TOP VIDEO GAMES THIS WEEK 1

Far Cry 3 (18+)

Xbox 360, PS3

Halo 4 (16+)

Call Of Duty: Black Ops Ii (18+)

Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U

Lego The Lord Of The Rings

Assassin’s Creed III (18+)

Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U

Dishonored (18+)

Fifa 13

Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, VITA

Hitman Absolution (18+)

Xbox 360, PS3, PC

TOP MOBILE GAMES Xbox 360

Lili

Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, DS

The Bard’s Tale

Xbox 360, PS3, PC

The Room

New Super Mario Bros. U

Wii U

Black Water

Nintendo Land

Wii U

Hotel Transylvania Dash

eleased in 1993 in Japan, the game was a spinoff from the Mega Man game series for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Mega Man X was the first Mega Man game for the 16-bit console in the Super Nintendo and gameplay was set over 100 years after the events in the original gaming series. The game followed Mega Man X, an android member of a military task forced called upon to stop other robots known as “Mavericks” – led by the powerful villan Sigma – who wanted to eradicate all humankind. The eight stages in the game could be completed in any order with gamers acquiring a new weapon after defeating each of the eight bosses. Though it has a simple premise and a relatively short completion time, the game went on to gain cult status since it was one of the first games that gave gamers 3D graphics and excellent sound. It also started the trend of discovering hidden items and power-ups. The game was also noted for having an intricate enough map that, upon completion of certain stages, affected the way other levels were played. For example, clearing the aircraft carrier stage will cause electrical outages in the power plant stage. Several gaming magazines and websites have given Mega Man X high rankings and it was included in Nintendo Power’s “100 Best Nintendo Games of All Time” list. Since 1993, 10 other games in the series have been produced.

Do you have a Blast from the Past? If so, let us know at editor2@ ThePhuketNews.com

FILM 13

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

IN BRIEF ‘Skyfall’ snags top N. America box office slot The James Bond blockbuster Skyfall is in top spot at the North American and UK box offices. In the US, the 23rd episode of the spy thriller series, now starring Daniel Craig as 007, took in US$11 million in its fifth weekend in theatres, said industry tracker Exhibitor Relations. Skyfall also set a record for the highest-grossing film in British box office history, its producers said on Wednesday – earning a record £94.3 million (US$151.7 million) at British and Irish cinemas in its first 40 days. AFP

Hotel Transylvania

Frightfully good film

FILM REVIEW Tom Metcalfe editor2@thephuketnews.com

Director: Genndy Tartakovsky Starring: Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, Andy Samberg, Running time: 91 minutes

dam Sandler’s Count Dracula, in the new 3D animated feature Hotel Transylvania, is a monster movieera vampire who retires from public life to open a luxury resort at his remote castle, where his friends and fellow monsters – including a Frankenstein monster voiced by Kevin James, and an overworked, family-minded werewolf voiced by Steve Buscemi – can live in peace, untroubled by meddling humans. Hotel Transylvania delivers a twist on the vampire-human romance of the Twilight Saga: Dracula has a cherished daughter, Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez) – at 118 years old, a mere teenager in vampire years who dreams of fleeing the confines of her unusual home. When a human turns up at the Hotel Transylvania – a young backpacker who’s failed to heed local warnings about the creepy castle and its monsters – Mavis falls in love, and Dracula responds by attempting, at length, to scare the newcomer away.

The artistic style of Hotel Transylvania sits somewhere on the animation spectrum near Pixar’s Ratatouille and Despicable Me by Illumination Entertainment, but the sharp character art is often overwhelmed by high-speed scene changes, harem-scarem chases, and a profusion of in-your-face 3D gimmicks. Younger children are likely to find it all a bit alarming, and there are few vaguely bawdy jokes, such as the female skeleton who’s embarrassed when caught “naked” in the shower. The goofy, slapstick humour is never subtle, but then perhaps no-one should be expecting subtlety in a movie about a doting vampire dad who doesn’t like his daughter’s new boyfriend. Although the family-friendly message of Hotel Transylvania isn’t delivered with the same grace as animated movies like Finding Nemo or Toy Story, its hyperactive 3D action is sure to keep older kids entertained, and the script is salted with sufficient ironic monstermovie in-jokes to keep their parents chuckling.

Jackson answers critics who want shorter “Hobbit”

“T

he Hobbit” may be a shortish book about diminutive heroes, but Peter Jackson on Wednesday said he was right to elongate the children’s story into no less than three epic movies. The New Zealand-born director has come under fire from some quarters for the trilogy, which opens in the US this month with the nearly three-hour-long first installment “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” “In Jackson’s academically fastidious telling ... it’s as if ‘The Wizard of Oz’ had taken nearly an hour just to get out of Kansas,” The Hollywood Reporter said in a bruising review. But Jackson said turning the original book into the sumptuous movie version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantastical Middle-

The Hobbit may be overstretched. earth required a slower approach. The initial plan was for two movies and soon that turned into three. In Tolkien’s often “breathless” text, “very major events are covered in two or three pages,” Jackson told reporters in New York. “Once you start to develop

SFX Coliseum Phuket (Central Festival) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (E) [G] Hotel Transylvania (E/3D) [G] The Impossible (E) [G] The Impossible (E/F) [G] Rise of the Guardians (E/3D) [G] Tee Sam (T/E sub) [15+] The Twilight Saga : Breaking Dawn Part 2 (E) [15+] The Twilight Saga : Breaking Dawn Part 2 (T) [15+] Yod Manut Nguen Duen (T/E sub) [15+]

11:00, 14:00, 17:15, 20:30 10:45, 12:50, 14:55, 17:00, 19:05, 21:10 12:00, 14:25, 16:50, 19:15, 21:40 13:30, 15:55, 18:20, 20:45 11:50, 14:10, 16:20, 18:30, 20:40 15:50, 18:00, 20:10, 22:15 14:20, 19:10, 21:35 11:55, 16:45 10:50, 12:10, 13:20, 14:40, 17:10, 19:40, 22:10

the scenes and plus you wanted to do a little bit more character development,” the movie grew, he said. To expand on the story, the filmmakers also dipped into Tolkien’s appendices to the “Return of the King,” the last of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy that Jackson previously adapted to Oscarwinning films. “The Hobbit,” which was screened for journalists in New York on Tuesday, sees the titular hobbit Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the wizard and 13 dwarves embark on a journey bedevilled by a host of evil forces. It is a prequel to the darker “Lord of the Rings,” introducing the main characters that reappear through the entire saga. The cursed One Ring also makes its first appearance. AFP

YouTube endangers film creativity, says Marceau French actress Sophie Marceau has hit out at the online video website YouTube, saying it poses a threat to creative and original film-making. The former Bond girl thinks the need to feed popular new media platforms leads to formulaic and uninspired movies. “Making movies... OK so what?” said Marceau: “To fill the cable TVs and YouTube? No. I think behind that it should be meaningful, it should be a real point of view from a director, from somebody who absolutely wants to say something.” Marceau is in Singapore promoting her latest film, the French romantic comedy Happiness Never Comes Alone. AFP

LA critics adore ‘Amour’, bow to ‘The Master’ The French-language drama film Amour won the 2012 best picture award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association on Sunday, while Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, about a Scientology-like cult in the 1940s, took four awards, including best actor for Joaquin Phoenix and best director for Anderson. The lead actress award was shared between the 85 year-old star of Amour, Emmanuelle Riva, and 22-yearold Jennifer Lawrence, who features in the romantic comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook. Other winners were Ben Affleck’s Argo for best screenplay, Skyfall for cinematography, and Kathryn Bigelow’s movie about Osama bin Laden, Zero Dark Thirty, for editing.

US BOX OFFICE TOP 10 Film

Weekend gross

Skyfall

$10.8M

$261M

Rise of the Guardians

$10.4M

$61.8M

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2

$9.16M

$269M

Lincoln

$8.92M

$97.1M

Life of Pi

$8.33M

$60.9M

Playing for Keeps

$5.75M

Wreck-It Ralph

$4.86M

$164M

Red Dawn

$4.24M

$37.2M

Flight

$3.13M

$86.2M

$2.81M

$11.8M

10 Killing Them Softly

SFC Jungceylon Phuket (Patong) Skyfall (E) [13+] The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (E) The Impossible (E) [G] Premium Rush (E) [13+] Red Dawn (E) [15+] Rise of the Guardians (E/3D) [G] The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (E) [15+] Yod Manut Nguen Duen (T/E sub) [15+]

11:50, 16:30, 19:10 11:00, 14:15, 17:30, 20:45 12:00, 14:25, 16:50, 19:15, 21:40 16:50, 21:10 14:30, 17:10, 22:00 12:30, 14:40, 19:00 2:10, 14:50, 19:30, 22:10 12:00, 14:30, 17:00, 19:30, 22:00

Gross

As some movies and movie times change every Thursday morning, after The Phuket News has gone to press, the accuracy of the following information cannot be guaranteed. For up -to - date information, visit sfcinemacity.com, or call the cinemas directly: SFX Coliseum Phuket 076-209000 and SFC Jungceylon Phuket 076 - 600 -555.

14 ISLAND SCENE

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 14,2012 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER DECEMBER 14,

BB&B AT THE CAPE BB&B held a dinner on December 1 at Plum’s restaurant in Cape Sienna in honour of Elisabetta Geppetti, owner and winemaker of Le Pupille from Maremma.

From left, Bart Duykers, BB&B; Elisabetta Geppetti; Francesco Greco, Executive Chef of Cape Sienna; and Frank Dreist, GM of Cape Sienna.

Charlie and Francis.

Vivian, Jan and Jeanette.

ONE GREAT NIGHT IN BANG TAO

CELEBRATING LOVE Impiana Private Villas celebrated the wedding of Lyndsey and Daniel who were married at the resort on November 28.

The happy Oriental Living team celebrate one year. From left, Interior Decorator Wilai “Alex” Raksai; Managing Director Michael Dietvorst, and Interior Designer Franz Gutierrez.

Oriental Living celebrated its first anniversary with a party at its Bang Tao premise on Saturday (December 8).

Daniel Ho with students from Satree Phuket School.

From left, Michael Quinzio, US Embassy Public Affairs Specialist; Alan Okami, President KoAloha Ukulele and singer; Paul Okami, Vice President KoAloha Ukulele and hula dancer; Daniel Ho, sixtime Grammy award winning artist; and Miyu Kanilehua, master hula dancer and instructor.

ALOHA, PHUKET! The US Embassy held its Hawaii Fest in Phuket last week, which included performances by award-winning musicians at Central Festival Phuket and Satree Phuket School, plus other fun events.

ISLAND SCENE 15

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

ALL’S FAIR AT BIS

The Phuket community enjoyed the great stalls and entertainment at the British International School Christmas Fair, held on the school grounds last Friday (December 7).

From left, Jack, BIS teacher Monica Morscheck, Kob and Linna.

BIS parent Savita with her homemade cakes.

Allan Mossop and Jo Bailey.

Year 5 student Abbey.

The BIS Phuket Hip Hop dancers, from back, Mia, Samantha, Mel and India; and front, Marisa.

Richard and Joan Watson.

HELPING OUR ANIMALS Soi Dog Foundation (SDF) held its annual Christmas dinner at Tatonka in Laguna for 50 guests on December 4. Harold, the owner of Tatonka, donated all the ticket proceeds to SDF. Other prize sponsors include Sunsail, Phuket Pavilions, Anantara and the Boathouse in Kata. The event, in its 5th year, raised overB 250,000. All funds raised will go towards SDF’s Trade of Shame campaign.

CARNIVAL ANNOUNCED The Patong Carnival press conference was held last Thursday on Bangla Road. The event starts tomorrow (December 15) with a parade at 5pm.

Gill and John Dalley, Harold Schwarz (Tatonkas owner) and Cristy Baker.

Governor Maitree Intusut at the press conference.

16 ISLAND SCENE

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 14,2012 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER DECEMBER 14,

SPREADING CHRISTMAS CHEER ACROSS PHUKET

Attended by islanders of all stripes, the Good Shepherd Christmas Market was held at Laguna last weekend to raise money for the charity. The second market will be held at Da Vinci in Naiharn from midday to 6pm tomorrow (December 15).

Jackson, age 11, enjoys cookie decorating.

From left, Vivienne and Ryanne from the Good Shepherd, Tamakorn “Boo” Khowpon, PR Manager for The Phuket News, and Vicky Coburn from the Good Shepherd.

Santa listens intently to the Christmas requests.

Mrs Om, of Sac’s Bakery, with Christmas mince pies and pastries.

Victor, Miquel, Lance and Wilfred, from the Netherlands.

A GREAT RACE WEEK The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta 2012 wrapped up on Saturday with a great closing party held at the Kata Beach Resort & Spa. The party capped off a week of exciting racing in great weather during Southeast Asia’s largest regatta.

Macey Dunkley, Jody White, Brittney Dunkley, Alixandra Lundahl and Lindsay Cameron.

FUN IN THE TROPICS A great night was held by all at “Kamala’s Biggest Tropical Night Out” charity fundraiser, held at the Kamala Beer Garden on December 7. Around B34,000 was raised on the evening for the Phuket Has Been Good to Us Foundation.

Phuketians Lies Sol, Chris Williams and Ilse Gibson.

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Concert for air con

usic students from Siobhan’s Music Studio (SMS) in Boat Lagoon performed their first official concert on Sunday (December 9). The concert was held to raise money to put air conditioning units in all the teaching rooms at the studio. Performers ranged in age from 5 to 16 years old, with some of the students having only had lessons for one month. Performances included guitar, piano, violin and voice solos. There were also debut performances from the music school’s community groups. Tropical Strings played a lovely rendition of Vivaldi’s Spring and Tropical Voices Junior gave us musical theatre with I Won’t Grow Up from Peter Pan, as well as Christmas carols. The advanced choir, Tropical Voices, sang arrangements of popular songs in three part harmony, and band members from Eye Forgot ended the show with several rock tracks. Music school owner Siobhan McGovern said the event was a great success. “I felt proud and inspired by the high level of musicianship of the young and talented performers. We raised B14,980 to go towards the air con installation.” SMS offers lessons in voice, piano, guitar, bass, drums, violin, songwriting and technology. The school is running a musical theatre workshop from December 17-20 for children aged 6 to 11.

opular foreign luk thung singers Christy Gibson and Jonas Anderson perform in Phuket next week as part of the Patong Carnival. The two are well known in Thailand for singing traditional Thai folk music. Jonas, 40, moved to Thailand as a child and eventually released five solo albums, plus three duet albums with Christy. Christy, 33, also moved to Thailand as a child and has released three albums of her own. The pair will perform together on the closing day of the Patong Carnival, December 20, at 9pm.

A happy Zumba Phuket Christmas

he first Zumba Charity Christmas Party in Phuket will be held tomorrow (December 15) at the lake in Naiharn. The party has been organised by Phuket Zumba instructors Geti and Tina, and the event will raise money for the Phuket Has Been Good to Us Foundation. The party starts at 10am with games and activities for children, and a lottery. At 10.30am there is Zumba for children, at 11am Zumba for adults, and Santa will make an appearance at 12.30pm with surprises for children. Afterwards there will be the opportu-

Live 89.5’s Got Talent

une in to Live 89.5 on Saturday mornings from 9am to 10am as Siobhan McGovern interviews Phuket’s up and coming talent. Name: Victoria Margo Age: 15 What instrument do you play? I started learning how to play guitar when I was in Year 6 and after a year I stopped as I was moving countries. I still play guitar but in my own time; I have been challenging myself to do self taught guitar. My other ‘instrument’ is voice and I have been doing that for two years now and I love it. What is your favourite thing about singing? My favourite thing about singing is being able to express myself through the lyrics. Many of the times people are never confident enough to say how they feel, so singing it is a great way to express myself. I mostly sing songs that I can relate to and understand therefore it is easier to add more emotion into it. Tell us about one of your best performances. So far, there is not a per-

Western luk thung stars to perform at Carnival

Christy Gibson and Jonas Anderson.

ENTERTAINMENT 17

nity to purchase Zumba clothes, and the party will finish at 1pm. The entry price is B200 per adult, while children are free. Zumba has been in Phuket since February 2012, when fitness instructors had their first training session. Over the last 10 months, Zumba has spread quickly around the island. Classes are held at Bliss Beach Club, Angsana, Thanyapura, Boat Lagoon, Elite Fitness, Royal Phuket Marina, Studio3 Fitness in Chalong, the Green Man, and Atmanjai. For more information visit “Zumba Phuket” on Facebook.

formance that I thought I did amazing in, but one of my favourites was the first performance where I did not get stage fright or mess up. It was during a “Friday Performance” in school when I sang Forget You by Cee Lo Green and I just imagined I was in the singing room with no one around. It was an amazing feeling and I felt I had done really well. Who inspires you? My biggest inspiration has to be Demi Lovato. I have always listened to her music since I was really young and I admire the way she puts so much emotion into the songs she sings, and also the fact that her songs have so much meaning. Others who inspire me musically are Adam Lambert, Ed Sheeran, Nickelback and One Direction.

18 EVENTS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, 14,2012 2012 List your event for FREE at thephuketnews.com/events.php FRIDAY, DECEMBER DECEMBER 14,

Merry Christmas ‘

Gallery cafée Christmas menu 24 th - 25 th December 2012 13.00 - 21.00

Welcome drink Spiced mulled wine ‘

Entreée

Two tone potato and spinach soup. ******** Follow by Roasted turkey roll stuffed with chestnut and cranberry stufﬁng. Baked ham with brown sugar and mustard glaze. Unlimited side dishes of Herby roast potato. Caramelized onion gravy Braised red cabbage with cider and apple Buttered sprouts with crispy bacon Cranberry sauce ******** Dessert Apple and red berries crumble with homemade brandy custard. Cranberry cheesecake top with red berries sauce. All for only 590 baht per person Booking now being taken for more information please contact Pinky 0891037000

FRI DEC 14 - THU JAN 3

B99 beverages during live sports coverage. Located at Patong Promenade. www.hogs breath.co.th.

BBQ at Expat Hotel 8pm, Expat Sports Bar, Expat Hotel, Soi Taipan, Patong. www.expatsportsbar.com.

Steak Night Buffet at Centra Ashlee Hotel Patong Marilyn Band Opening Reception Char-grilled and delicious. Tender cuts of Well-known Phuket artist Marilyn Band presents her latest artwork, oil paintings and water colours, inspired by scenes from her recent travels in exotic locations. She has had numerous exhibitions in Thailand and internationally, most recently in France. Artwork on display until January 3, 2013. 076 333 568, http://momtriphuket.com/ artgallery/index.html.

quality meats cooked to perfection. Tasty side dishes, selection of fine sauces and a deliciously fresh salad bar. Start from 6.30-10pm. Contact 076 349 800-7, email chp@chr.co.th.

Special Saturday at Hogs Breath B99 beverages during live sports coverage. Located at Patong Promenade: www.hogsbreath.co.th.

Sunday Chillout At Sunsets Bar Sunday chillout every week. Live music, free BBQ or buffet, free karaoke, free pool table. Happy hour every day midday to 6pm, beverages from B60. Bar open every day midday until late. Farang hospitality, everybody welcome. Sunsets bar and guesthouse, 62 Hasip Pee Road, Patong. For more information call Kiwi on 083 640 1082.

SUNDAY DEC 16

FRIDAY DEC 14 Sunday Roast Pork Sunday roast pork or beef dinner every Sunday 2pm onwards Expat Hotel, Soi Taipan, Patong. B290 per person. See www.expathotel.com.

Fish and Chips Friday Night B250 per person. At Irish Times Pub, Jungceylon Patong.

Sunday Lonbster Lunch Phuket’s Best Indian Buffet Phuket’s best Indian buffet is back with a new chef and new menu. Homemade authentic Indian. Special promotion at B449 per person. Open buffet from 7pm10pm. Happy hour drinks from 7pm-8pm buy one get one free. For all information and enquiries, please call Les Anges on 076 360 803 or K. Mai 084 306 6729. See lesangesphuket.com.

Pool Competition at Expat Hotel Pool Competition at 9pm. Expat Sports Bar, Expat Hotel, Soi Taipan, Patong. www. expatsportsbar.com.

Boston, Western rock and Phuket lobsters either steamed / grilled / poached / chilled or even Thermidor, we make them the way you like them. For those wanting some greens or lobster alternatives enjoy Fine de Claire oysters, grill selection and our wonderful salads. DJ sets by Jamie O’Rourke and Ms. Nok til sunset. 076 330 421, email: info@ rekataphuket.com, Facebook: rekataclub.

SATURDAY DEC 15

Sunday Carvery Special Friday at Hogs Breath Live acoustic band. B99 beverages during live sports coverage. Located at Patong Promenade, www.hogsbreath.co.th.

Curry Fridays at Navrang Mahal Every Friday, all-you-can-eat authentic Indian curry buffet, B449 net per person. 7pm-11.30pm. Call 076 286 464.

Christmas Market It’s a Christmas fair full of fun and festivities for the whole family. Come get your Christmas shopping done while children enjoy loads of activities, games and sweets to fill them with holiday cheer! Find local artists, crafts, jewelers, exquisite decorations and visit Santa’s Grotto. December 15 DaVinci restaurant, Naiharn. 3pm to 8pm. Vendors can reserve a table (B500) for this event. Contact Mei 090 708 6351.

B399 per person all you can eat. Roast beef, BBQ ham, chicken, pork, fresh vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and a glass of selected beverage. At Irish Times Pub, Junceylon Patong.

Sunday Brunch at Hilton Phuket Enjoy our lavish international buffet with friends and family each Sunday at Sails – a Hilton experience. Our jazz band sets the mood for a relaxing afternoon with delicious food, live cooking stations, refreshing drinks and good company. Balloon artists entertain the little ones with face painting and kids’ activities. Every Sunday at 12pm3pm. B1,100++ per adult. B700++ per child (Ages 5-12). Make your reservations at phuket.sales@hilton.com.

MONDAY DEC 17

Schnitzel Day Special Sunday at Hogs Breath Kids eat free when adults buy main courses.

Kokosnuss Restaurant - Every Monday, Schnitzel, fried potatoes and salad buffet B190 per person. Starts 5.30pm. For more info please visit phuketkokosnuss.com.

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14,List 2012 your event for FREE at thephuketnews.com/events.php FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

EVENTS 19

Ao Chalong Yacht Club Everyone welcome

“Award winning chef from Airlie Beach, Australia. Fabulous breakfast, and authentic western Sunday roast from 12 - 4pm - just like home! Home made desserts eg. cheesecake, bread & butter pudding, apple pie made fresh every day.”

There is parking on site, cool breezes and a beautiful view. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 8.00am 7 days per week. Tel: 090 890 8993 email: amandaleehay@bigbond.com

TUESDAY DEC 18

Chalong Yacht club. Starting at 7pm. Call 090 809 8993.

MONDAY DEC 24

those who seek a bit more fun after a good meal. Listen to good music, enjoy sport on large TV. Play pool or dart games or just enjoy the unique surroundings. Selected beverages. At 4-8pm and midnight till late. Plus free pool sponsored by Komodo Bar. From 8- 9.30pm. Come on everybody Let’s party. Call 087 280 3282.

Rawai Plaza, Rawai Beach all year round. Tel: 087 280 3282.

Pool Competition at Expat Guesthouse Pool Competition every Tuesday 9pm Expat Guesthouse Sports Bar, Patong. See map at www.expatguesthouse.com.

WEDNESDAY DEC 19

Phuket’s First Audio Video Interactive Pub Quiz B99 per drinks and selected beverages buy 1 get 1 free. Quiz master Dj Doris, from 91.5FM. Bar Tabs: 1 Prize B1,500. 2 Prize B1,000. Every Wednesday Night From 8 pm. Free entry. Maximum 4 people per team. At Irish Times Pub, Junceylon Patong.

Best Family Xmas Eve Dinner Friendship Beach Resort’s famous Xmas Eve Dinner. Festive buffet of seasonal treats - roasted turkey, baked ham, Christmas puddings and much more. Enjoy your dinner with live music right on the beach. Open 6pm, Buffet served 6.30pm, entertainment from 7pm. This event sells out every year, book early to avoid disappointment. Adults B1,400 ++, Kids under 12, B390 ++. Book with Chef Charlie 089 728 5304.

Phuket Wake Park: Pool Competition: Meet The Best Players in Town Designed and built by a Thai-Canadian family in 2011, The Plaza is a very fine sculpture and walled relief garden and entertainment centre. Artist’s pictures can be seen at the plaza walls all year round. The art pieces are donated by “The Unique One,” a rare selection of art by Khun Manop and Mike. Pool competition is sponsored by Komodo Bar at 9pm. Entry fee B100 plus one free beverage. Come on everybody-let’s party. Call 087 280 3282.

Come wake board at Asia’s BEST and newest wake park located in Kathu. Full morning just 550 and evening sessions from 500 baht! We have happy evening! All evening riding only for 650 baht. Wake in the day or wake up your night! See www. phuketwakepark.com.

Monday Party, Tue. Party, Wed, Party, Thur. Party, Fri. Party What the Puck Saturday Party, Sunday Party Wicked Wednesdays Ladies day. Buy one beverage get one free. Located at Patong Promenade. www.hogsbreath.co.th.

THURSDAY DEC 20

Pork Roast and Roast Chicken Every Thursday. Buffet includes salads, soups, mashed potatoes, bread dumplings. ALL YOU CAN EAT B190. www.phuketko kosnuss.com.

A Chilled Out Christmas Eve Chill out with cool sounds on the beach over a welcome drink, before enjoying an amazing four course menu by Chef Bryan Burger in the stunning new RE KÁ TA Beach Club, overlooking Kata Beach. Our DJ line-up will heat up the pace with party music until late. Welcome drink at 6pm dinner from 8pm onwards. B3,800++ per person paired with beverages B2,500++ per person without beverages. Contact 076 330 421, email: info@rekataphuket.com, Facebook: rekataclub.

EVERY DAY

Double Happy Hours Karaoke Night Fever Enjoy Karaoke night every Thursday at Ao

Come on everybody, let’s party At Rawai Plaza, cool atmosphere, unique setting. happy people.

At the end of the Rawai beach strip, Rawai Plaza is the best entertainment venue for

WILL PERFORM JUST FOR ASKING!!! POLL DANCE BY EMMY THAI DANCE BY NANCY & HIS FRIENDS

The Unique One Rare Selection of Art By Khun Manop & Mike Runs from December 1, 2012 until January. 31, 2013. Born in 1982, Nakonsitumarat, Thailand. Monap (Boy) Srisawang graduated with a Bachelor of fine arts degree in 2004 from Rajamangala University, Chaing Mai, Thailand. He worked in Chaing Mai for two years after graduation. He moved to Phuket island in 2006. During this time, Khun Boy has proven himself as a very fine relief sculpturist and created many relief sculptures that can be seen all over Phuket. His work will be on display at Home-Pro Shoping cetre, Chalong, from 9am - 9pm daily and at

SO, DON’T BE SHY!! Shows sponsored by Emmy & Joey Bar Nancy Ni Nancy Bar Rawai Plaza, Rawai Beach, Phuket 087 280 3282

daily event updates on

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

20 TIME OUT

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

This week in history

GOT YOUR NUMBER

12,000

Number of eyes a butterfly has.

1,500

The number of dreams the average person has in a year

195

Roughly, the speed in kmh at which a sneeze travels out of your mouth.

Percentage of the world’s population who live on islands. The Wright Flyer takes off 109 years ago, ushering in the new era of powered flight.

1. If a bibliophile loves rare books, what does a bibliopole do? 2. What is the correct term for a castrated rooster? 3. What is also known as a “devil’s darning needle”, a “horse stinger” or a “devil’s steelyard”? 4. How many zeroes follow the 1 in a googol? 5. Apart from humans, which is the only mammal that suffers from sunburn? Answers at the foot of the page.

SUDOKU

Across 1. Was private eye? Sh! Has nasty sense of humor. (7) 4. State: scratch on lair. (7) 8. “Pronounced reed,” said Red. (4) 9. Tum’s turned by filth. (4) 10. Information for eleven guardian spirits. (5) 13. Mirror-like cat returns in amazing show. (11) 15. Clothing for southwestern consumers. (8) 18. See native in a month. (5) 21. Upper leg hit note badly – to hospital! (5) 22. Send down about the French door. (8) 26. In Crete, Ann and a confused old person. (11) 29. Kisses shirt openings. (5) 32. Go back to the French and stare with lust. (4) 33. Bar a returning MiddleEasterner. (4) 34. State for what reason, oh Ming! (7) 35. Cask is one for a country. (7)

Down 1. Prison official’s battle clothing. (8) 2. Swipes temple in liner. (5) 3. Hear bad actor use spoon on rodent. (7) 4. Notice Ted’s up and so on – maybe. (6) 5. Harass old horse. (3) 6. She’s got a couple of points. (3) 7. Sir! A thousand close to junction. (6) 11. Give ear a twist. Period. (3) 12. Note GNP – a strange military building. (8) 14. Sexy clothing for Thai monkey on lake. (8) 16. Morality of the thick-skinned. (5) 17. Address of 7 down. (3) 19. Bend South Africa into a different state (1,1,1) 20. Brat ever broke bone? (8) 23. Ball rest back around Paul’s shoulder decoration. (7) 24. Fish the minimum immediately. (6) 25. Big gorilla is after me in the drink. (6) 27. The Spanish letter for a thousand moose. (3) 28. No precursor to Titanic; they’re typical. (5) 30. Boss of 100 takes eastern circle. (1,1,1) 31. Mask is partly sports equipment. (3)

■■ December 14, 1912: Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reaches the South Pole after a two-month, 1,700-mile trek from from the Antarctic coast at the Bay of Whales. ■■ December 15, 1917: The Bolshevik government in Russia, led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, and the Central Powers led by Germany, agree to an armistice that takes Russia out of World War I. ■■ December 16, 1497: Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, establishing a new European trade route to India and the Far East. ■■ December 17, 1903: The Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur, make the first successful powered aircraft flight in their Wright Flyer, near the town of Kitty Hawk in North Carolina, USA. ■■ December 18, 1642: Dutch explorer Abel Tasman is the first European to land in New Zealand. Four of his crew are killed by local Maori. ■■ December 19, 1843: Charles Dickens’ novella A Christmas Carol goes on sale, to immediate popular and critical acclaim. It has never been out of print since. ■■ December 20, 1972: Astronauts Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt return to earth from the last manned moonshot, Apollo 17.

Solutions to last week’s puzzles:

Answers to this week’s Pop Quiz: 1.Sells rare books; 2. Capon; 3. Dragonfly; 4. 100; 5. The pig

WEEKDAYS Breakfast The Power Hour Lifestyle Drive Non Stop Music

Sam & Natasha Live 89.5

SATURDAYS 7am - 11am 11am - 12pm

Live 89.5 Got Talent Weekend Brunch

Siobhan McGovern Kirsty Meyer

9am - 10am

Best Of Breakfast

10am - 1pm

Live 89.5 Dance Anthems

SUNDAYS Sam & Natasha

5pm - 7pm

Weekend Brunch

Kirsty Meyer

10am – 1pm

Steve

7pm - 10pm

The Spin

Tim Newton

1pm - 4pm

Jason Wilder

4pm - 7pm

Steve Johnston

12pm - 3pm

Phuket News Radio

Live 89.5

1pm - 2pm

Saturday Night Fever

Live 89.5

10pm – 12am

International Chart Show Top 40

Jason Wilder

3pm - 7pm

Box Of Neutrals

Live 89.5

2pm – 3pm

Non Stop Music

Live 89.5

12am – 10am

Sunday Night Chill

Live 89.5

7pm - 10pm

Live 89.5

7pm - 7am

Going Green

Nick Anthony

3pm – 5pm

Tel: 076 612 895 SMS: 090 490 7895

Non Stop Music

Live 89.5

10pm – 7am

16 CLASSIFIEDS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Jobs

6 rai hilltop land for sale

Mission Hills, sea/ mountain views > 19

classifieds@thephuketnews.com

Class Act Media is southern Thailand's most comprehensive media company, incorporating Phuket’s leading English newspaper ‘The Phuket News’, Phuket’s leading English radio station ‘Live 89.5’, a host of publications & services including ‘The Phuket Colouring book’, ‘The Southern Sun Samui’ & ‘Phuket Ticket Master’. WE ARE CURRENTLY SEEKING

Experienced Foodservice Salesperson Wanted: *Must live permanently in Thailand and

organise own residency status. * Must speak fluent Thai and English. * Must have experience selling food/ alcohol to executive chefs and purchasing managers. Experienced food service. * Must have own car. Only people meeting all above criteria please send resume to george_d@jagota.com.

Content Management /Marketing: Qualifications: - Thai Nationality and speak basic English and good interpersonal skills. Preference given to those with driver’s license. Please email: kritsanaphat@lepep group.com.

Thai Cook-Sous Chef Wanted: Thai/Western

restaurant is looking for a experienced Thai cook. Must work under pressure, team player and with good organisation skills. Working hours 11.00-22.00. Good tips. Please contact 086 940 4801.

Sales Manager Thai or Foreigner (Located in Phuket)

Responsibilities : ● Managing the sales team (including responsibility for recruitment of new sales staff when needed) ● Weekly & monthly sales budget meetings and reporting ● Developing and following up new sales leads ● Reaching own personal sales targets and responsibility for reaching team targets

We offer: ● Competitive salary, bonuses and travel expenses ● Friendly work environment ● Social security (10%) paid by the company ● Excellent career progress opportunity ***The company may offer accommodation plus local transportation costs to successful candidates.***

Phuket Brasserie Jobs Recuitment: -Waitress 5 Positions. -Bartender 2 Positions. Salary B9,000. Service charge B4,000. If you worked in hotels before it will be an advantage. Contact 076 210 511. Send CV and photo to linkwanjai@me.com.

Interested candidates are invited to send application with full resume in English indicating qualifications, experience, expected salary with recent photo via email to adminmgr@thephuketnews.com or post to below address.

Class Act Media Co., Ltd.

99/7 Moo 1 T. Kathu A. Kathu Phuket 83120 Tel: 076 612 550-2 ext 100 Fax: 076 612 553 adminmgr@thephuketnews.com

FULL TIME FINANCE & ADMIN. MANAGER Responsibilities : ● Perform day to day processing of financial, accounting & administrative transactions ● Coordinate with suppliers for purchasing ● Prepare company’s payroll including monthly social security ● Coordinate with revenue department/social security office as required ● Liaise with external audit firm for yearly ending and ensure that all tax reports are accurate and submitted in a timely manner ● Assist in the visa/work permit application process for expat staff members ● Maintain filing system for all financial, legal & admin. documents ● Communicate with the bank and manage all bank documents ● Supervise the team of minimum 5 staff ● Other financial, accounting & admin. duties as assigned and required

The applicant must have: ● Thai National ● Excellent interpersonal skills ● Very good command of English ● Experience in finance, accounting & admin is essential

We offer: ● Competitive salary & bonuses depending on company profits ● 5 day work week – (Monday – Friday 8.30 am – 6 pm) ● Friendly work environment & excellent progress opportunities

Interested applicants are invited to apply in person or send application with full resume indicating qualifications and experience, expected salary and recent photo to: adminmgr@thephuketnews.com Tel: 076 612 550-2 ext 101

Class Act Media Co., Ltd. 99/7 Moo 1 T. Kathu A. Kathu Phuket 83120 Tel: 076 612 550-2 Fax: 076 612 553

Admin O f f icer re - urgently. Good salary and pany is hiring new staff ing equipment. Competitive benefits. Candidates must members. Required: good salary and bonuses. Call quired: Club Asia Fitness have good English commu- English knowledge, driv- 084 915 9507. requires an Admin Officer

nication skills. Email cluba siaphuket@hotmail.com.

ing license, independent thinking, positive attitude, computer skills. Call us: 081 970 5204.

Personal Assistant Required: PA required

Sala Phuket Jobs Vacancy: -Purchasing Manager: 1 Position -Chief Engineering 1 Position -Spa Therapist 4 Positions -Reservation Officer: 1 Position Contact 076 338 888. Email: pncphuket@sala phuket.com.

to help CEO of charter boat company. Duties would include marketing, hospitality and some book keeping. Suit attractive Thai lady with ver y good English. Contact Mike: blueworldsafaris@gmail.com.

Reservations Assistant full time: Full time.

Western. Must have excellent written english, organisational & computer skills, self motivated/good communicator. Home based. Send CV to phuketbook ings@gmail.com

Sales Staff Wanted: Restaurant Manager Wa n t e d: Re st au r a nt English-speaking female. Thai with previous selling experience with own car, outgoing personality with ability to sell to farangs, flexible hours. Retainer, fuel, phone and commission. Call Khun Nam: 076 272 702. Island Curtains.

manager / accounting with experience managing restaurant, accounting, managing staf f and ser ving customers. Call 087 471 1351.

Air Con/Refrig Technician: Looking for a

technician with experience

Mobile Car Rental in electrics, air or refrig is hiring !: Rapidly ex- (compressors), for servic-

panding car rental com-

ing, repairing and maintain-

S a l e s / M a r ke t i n g People: 4 Full time and

2 Part time sales/marketing people required. English essential. Good commission and incentives. New Australian te r m i te m a n a g e m e nt product. Call Jody 087 266 2252.

We are looking for key members: Res-

taurant manager, executive chef, waiter / waitress, guest service agent (English speaking and writing, male preferred) room maid, room boy, cleaner, technical engineer. Care@ bydlofts.com.

Webdeveloper: Knowl-

edge: HTML, CSS, JQuery, Javascript, Photoshop, Thai nationality and speak basic English and good interpersonal skills. Develop and modify websites on detailed design specifications. Email: kritsanaphat@ lepepgroup.com.

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

CLASSIFIEDS 17

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

JOBS IN PHUKET

List your ad for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php Secretary Kindergarten: Must have good English and computer skills Monday- Friday, 7.30-5pm, Chalong. Tel: 080 624 7060. Email: phuketpreschool@yahoo. com, www.buds-phuket. com.

Graphic Designer: Knowledge: Illustrator, Photoshop, Thai nationality and speak basic English and good interpersonal skills. Create professional website design, flyers, banners, business cards. kritsanaphat@ lepepgroup.com.

Looking for people who love animals: And would like to do some volunteer work looking after sick, injured & homeless dogs in Thalang area? Please Contact : Sherin.peace@ gmail.com.

of national and international clients. We are seeking fulltime Graphic Designers, to work on a diverse range of print and web design projects. Salary depending on experience and talent level. Please send CV and some samples of work to: info@spikemediagroup. com.

Home Help - Couple Wanted: Live-in position for couple, Thai nationals preferred. Lady will be cleaner/nanny and man will drive and do household maintenance. Good conditions and salary. Please call 080 208 7454.

Office Assistant Needed: Small dynamic and friendly real estate agency company based in Chalong, Phuket working for national and international clients. We are seeking a full-time assistant with administrative skills and outgoing personality. Experienced in selling real estate is an advantage. Thai National, excellent English spoken and written is a must. Computer literate (Office, Excel, Word, Internet). Salary based on qualifications. Send resume, photo and expected salary to: sales@18excelsior-property.com, welcome walk-in candidates. www.18excelsior-property.com. and some book keeping. Suit attractive Thai lady with very good English. Contact Mike: blueworldsafaris@ gmail.com.

will be trained in Spain with three Michelin stars chef. Good command of English required. Email: hr@iniala. com.

Job vacancies in a 5 stars hotel in Phuket is looking for strong candidates in F&B Jobs Position: 1.Mixologist (Bar) 2. Restaurant Coordinator 3.Wine Guardian Service charge guarantee 8,000 baht. Experience: All candidates need to have at least 1 to 2 years food and beverage service experience in a restaurant within a luxury lifestyle brand. Benefits: Social security, accommodation, all meals, work 5 days, off 2 days, public holidays as per resort standards, free transportation, health insurance, uniform, provident fund. Contact us: Email: jobs@eventsthailand.net Mobile: 089-785-6994 (English) Phone: 076-612-550 Ext.800 Visit our website: www.jobphuket.net.

Staff for Dive Center Office Manager: Fe- Vacant Position: Bell Office: Immediate start. 6 male /Thai , fluent in speak- and driver two positions days/week. Good salary, adjusted to ability/experience. Thai female with good English/computer/book-keeping skills required. In-house training possible. Chalong area. 088 380 9712.

ing and writing English, good computer skills, Accounting and administration skills required. Preferably experience of at least 2 years. Email: monsoonpatong@ gmail.com.

Male. Positive attitude, Service mind, Problems solving skill. Good command of English and computer Microsoft office. Please contact 076 333 033 extension 1651

HELP Wanted Koh Phangan Recept: RePersonal Assistant A p p r e n t i c e C h e f : Two Graphic ceptionist, help wanted. Thai PA required Required: Looking for a young Thai Designers Wanted: SPIKEMEDIA is a creative media agency based in Phuket working for a variety

URGENT!

to help CEO of charter boat company. Duties would include marketing, hospitality

chef for new restaurant in a villa complex in Phangnga. Successful candidate

Nationality for busy resort in Koh Phangan. Call Erika 077 377 247.

Open House Day 22-23 December: We are looking for selfmotivated and enthusiastic professional candidates to join our inspiring team. Start time interview at 9.00â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17.30hrs at U Sunsuri Phuket. For more details contact 076 388 691, Email:hrm@ usunsuriphuket.com.

DaVinci Restaurant in Nai Harn: Thai nationality only. Waitresses 2 positions, Bartender 1 position. Experience and good English will be an advantage. Good salary and benefits. Contact Khun Jana 086 947 5197, jana@davinciphuket. com.

WRITE YOUR CLASSIFIED FREE ONLINE: 189 CHARACTERS + 1 PICTURE Headline: ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......

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189 CHARACTERS

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Online upgrades:

Website link B199

Urgent banner B199

UPGRADE TO PREMIUM

PAY ONCE UNTIL SOLD FOR JUST B2,799 + VAT, WILL RUN ONLINE AND IN EVERY PRINT EDITION UNTIL YOU HAVE SOLD. INCLUDES ADDITIONAL 9 PICTURES ONLINE. Print upgrades:

Extra lines B99

Box B199

Colour Background B199

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DEADLINE: MONDAY 11.59PM (MIDNIGHT) FOR THAT FRIDAYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ISSUE Hand this in at agent shops, our office or fax: 076 612 553

18 CLASSIFIEDS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Buy&Sell

Freehold home for sale 4 bedroom house in Cherng Talay > 20

PERSONAL SERVICES

Baan Cananga Spa Products: We use tra-

BOATS & YACHTS

Ski Boat for Sale:

Speed boat for sale!: 6 metre body Bayliner, 200 HP (EFI) Mercury engine, Yamaha 5 HP back up engine. Blue book. Including: trailer, 2 anchors, and cover, Garmin deep sounder and fish finder brand new. Call 081 477 5637 THAI; 086 283 0082 ENG, RUS.

Glastron Carlson design, Thai registered, 120ltr fuel tank, 200hp Yamaha engine in excellent condition. Includes trailer, boat cover, wakeboard pole, ropes and ski equipment. Call 081 894 5822, email: markbreitis@ gmail.com.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Investors Resort project: Resort project. SituSpeedboat for sale Hull Only: Excellent condition, 12.18m Fiberglass Bowrider, 12mm thick hull, 600ltr fuel tank, 150ltr water tank, licensed for 25 passengers, storage area, manual head, 5 years old, B1.4 million o.n.o, please contact 076 362 300 Ext.1801.

ated by Laguna, develop a 44 or 60 room resort on a 2 Rai plot. Sought after area, 25 year lease. Realistic ROI within 3 years. Lucrative & secure investment in ideal location. Offers may be considered for sale of lease. Contact 087 884 0644.

Plaza, opposite Tesco Lotus. Contact: 076 612 733, 076 248 900. www.phuketfood.com.

COOKING CLASS

homeless dog? Many lovely pups - free to a good h o m e, a l s o f u l l g r ow n a d u l t d o g s t h at wo u l d make great guard dogs and a best friend. Contact: gone2thedoggies@gmail.com.

Phuket Cooking Academy: Cooking and Buds Nursery:Phuket’s oldest international childcare facility. High-quality, time proven schedule and curriculum. Now in brandnew purpose-built school. Experienced native English teachers to teach ages 1 1/2-8. Mon-Fri 8am-5pm. Bus ser vice available from Patong, Karon, Kata, Phuket, Rawai and Chalong. Tel: 076 384 638, 080 624 7060. Website: www.budsphuket.com.

baking classes have never been more fun using our top-class professional facilities. With complimentary transport from around the island, head to the best Masterchef kitchen on the island. Learn the tricks of the trade from international award winning Chef, Lionel Raiffort. Learn how to cook, from Thai & European cuisines, to the art of baking. Get involved and make a day of it, groups are welcome. For more information, visit www.phuketcooking-academy.com or call 081 821 4064.

CLUBS & MEMBERSHIPS

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS FOR SALE

PET HOSPITAL Chaofah Pet Hospital: 8/28–29 Moo 9, Chaofah East Road. Contact 076 283 365.

SPORTING GOODS & EXERCISE Kite Surf Equipment for Sale: 2 new boards, never used. 2 Kites, used 2-3 times. New price was more then 200.000 Baht. Sell altogether for 100.000 B a h t . Fo r s i n g l e i t e m s please call. 086 747 9292 (English) or 081 970 520.

Health Food: Online health food in Thailand. Good karma, all natural, healthy, and organic products. Please contact 082 276 1675, www.good karmathailand.com.

MOVING & STORAGE 28Ft, registered for 15 passengers. 200Hp/ V6 Mercury motor, only 240 hours, totally restored 40 hours ago, perfect for snorkeling, diving trips, island hopping, water taxi navigation system + fishfinder, 5hp spare motor. Boat and motor in very good condition. Located at Boat Lagoon. Priced for quick sale at B330,000. Contact at : 086 747 9292 or claudstrey@gmail.com.

Are You Looking to get a New Dog or Cat?: Why not adopt a

CHILDCARE

BUSINESS SERVICES

Moonsoon for sale:

ditional organic Thai herbs and make quality homemade spa products, cosmetic and OTOP health and beauty products. Shop: Kata Night Plaza and Raya Beauty Rawai Sai Yuan. Call 081 979 3504 Khun Wan.

• Movement • Stillness • Balance M obile:0 81-728 - 9 9 8 0 Email: Serenethai@yahoo.com

Backgammon: Players

Tile It: Thalang. Wana

Wanted. Tel: 081 577 8443, email: phuketconnection@ yahoo.com

Park on Srisoonthorn Rd. Phuket’s quality tile boutique. Tiles for interior, exterior, residential, commercial. Contact 076 620 168 or 081 424 2828. Email info@ tile-asia.com.

We Sell Boxes & Moving Supplies: At MY

Farang Food Paradise:

Singapore Club Phuket: Calling all Singa-

Your specialist of imported food and drinks in Phuket. Visit our shop at the Billion

poreans in Phuket to join Singapore Club Phuket. Contact Robin on 081 803 7189.

STORAGE Self Storage you can buy quality moving and packing supplies like individual boxes, bubble wrap, packing tapes & knives plus secure padlocks. We also help you to move and store. Call 076 292 909.

PET ADOPTION

Tr e k R o a d B i k e B75,000 ono: Trek Madone 4.5 road bike. Ashima wheels. Carbon aero-bars. Profile design water bottle. Great condition plus travel case worth B20,000. Call 087 887 1292, email drew joy27@yahoo.com.

Why buy a pet?: Soi Dog Foundation have over 300 beautiful dogs and puppies available for adoption. Fully vaccinated and sterilised. Contact 085 574 4258 or email: cindy@soidog.org.

Life Fitness Walking Machine: Brand new retail B150,000. Sell for B70,000. Call 0872760529.

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

CLASSIFIEDS 19

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Property

Phuket land for sale 19 rai located in Layan > 21

PROPERTY FOR RENT “More than just office space”

Bar, Pi z zer ia , Ho t el, Rawai Beach: B800,000 yearly rent, longterm lease. Negotiable, 9 bedrooms, full guest. No key money, 60m to beach. Call 084 242 8914, email: rawai4@yahoo.com.

For your private or virtual office call Martin on 08 9874 9080 info@asiapacificoffices.com

www.asiapacificoffices.com

ศูนย์ธุรกิจปาล์มพลาซ่า

Laguna area, Cherngtalay From 8m2 to 120m2

Investment Property for sale!: New, modern NaiHarn Beach Lagoon Resort: on South

Retail Space Opportunity: Large international resort in Karon seeks retail tenant. Excellent year round occupancy. Flexible rental terms. Must sell quality merchandise. Khun Boonchu call 076 396 200–5, fcckr@ chr.co.th.

Office for rent Patong Tower: 3 Offices for rent

on 5th floor of Patong Tower, close to beach, post office, Jungceylon. 69 sq.metre: B34,500 per month. 106 sq.metre: B53,000 per month. 126 sq.metre: B63,000 per month. 076 341 369-71.

Phuket Condominium for Rent (KFA2-3):

Shop Front for Rent: The Royal Phuket Yacht Club shop front space for rent 4.34 M. x 4.37 M. Located on the first floor of a great looking area for retail shop, boutique etc. Call 076 380 200 ext. 601 Khun Naphat.

B13,200 - 16,500 per night. 2 Bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Unit size: 252 sq.m. Short and Long Terms. Pets: Not allowed. Ms.Laddawan - CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) 076 239 967/085 661 0623.

e n d of N a i h a r n B e ac h, Phuket, just 10 minutes to Kata. Nice and quiet nature for your relaxation. Massage, Tours, and Services. Start from only B599. Contact 083 173 9636. B.Jack, email: naiharnbeachresor t@hot mail.com.

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Patong Bangla Building for Sale: B28 million,

Chanote, 4 floors 6mx 14m. 1st & 2nd tenanted. Flr 3-staff accom, bath, kitchen. Separate office with access to lower floor. 4th flr private Penthouse one bed. 087 881 7600.

Ocean Front Villa for rent: Luxury brand new

Surin Beach Office For Rent: Prime location

fully renovated sales office/ shop with initial lease of 6 years. Internal area 144 m2, walled back garden 60 m2, 4 parking spots, 3 phase, kitchen, internet, phone/ fax, TV, 5 AC. Contact 085 060 0033.

villa, fully furnish and ready to move in, 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms with infinity 10 meter long swimming pool and truly beautiful sea view. Located in a small development, only 50 metres from the sea and 3 mins from Grand AoPor marina. For sale B19.9 million or for long term rent B150,000 per month. Call 081 343 0777, email : montha_phuket@ yahoo.com.

Commercial Building For Sale: 5 metre x 18.30 metre, three floors, located close by condo at Saiyuan, two big halls, two bedrooms, four bathrooms, clean and new building. Negotiable price. For more details please call 087 881 7979, 081 472 0770, email: ss.kijrungruang@gmail.com.

Freehold Home / Mini Resor t: 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, swimming pool, 20 minutes north of Phuket Airport. Peaceful country setting, flood and tsunami free. Minutes from beach. B10.9 million. Email: info@ mythaihouseforsale.com.

Townhouse Chalong Bargain!!: Town house on 3 levels with mezanine, 112 sqm, fully furnished, 3 BR, 3 Bth room, 2 kitchens, 3 air con. Tasteful western decoration, MUST see, HP English 0854415115. Thai 081 555 1230.

waterfront townhome at the Boat Lagoon for sale. Rented out long term at 570.000 Baht/year. 3 bed/4bath, 2 balconies, terrace at canal, 6 m berth in front of house. 250 sqm living space. Top condition. Luxury finishings. Brokers welcome. B9.9 million. 086 747 9292 (English) or 081 970 5204 (Thai/English).

20 CLASSIFIEDS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

List your advert for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

PROPERTY IN PHUKET

PROPERTY FOR SALE CONT.

Sea-View ChalongResidence: Dream pool

Pool Villa nex t to PIA: Brand new, luxury villa with 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 12 meter swimming pool, guest bungalow, ready to move in. Perfectly located in a development with underground electricity and security, only 800 metres from Mission Hills golf course, less then 10 mins to airport, Phuket International Academy and Grand AoPor Marina. For sale B14.9 mil or long term rent 100,000 Baht/month. Tel 081 343 0777, Email : montha_ phuket@yahoo. com.

villa with 5 bedrooms all with ensuite on 1 rai of land. Big hall, office, maidsroom. Brand-new construction opposite Wat Chalong on the way up to the hill. A huge 685 sq.m of living area, fully furnished. Modern European- designed kitchen. Big sea view pool terraces incl sala and attractive bar area. Security alarm system. Selling price on request. By owner directly. Call 085 654 4011 or 089 404 0737. Email: schulz.th@gmx.de.

One + Two Homes for Sale with AC, Rawai: Main home: two bed, extended bungalow with outside kitchen, shower and seating salas set in mature, walled, private gardens. Own well, tanks and pumps. Sold, furnished. Will sleep 8+ can be sold with a 30-year land lease for non Thai. Price B5.5 nego: Mobile: Eng 082 416 0150. 3BB WiFi internet also.

Mission Heights: Land area 500m2, House area 164m2. 3 bed, 4 bath, fully furnished, aircon in all rooms, fans, Internet, satellite TV, swimming pool, independent water supply wells. Finish work December 2012. B10 million. Call 088 838 3242.

NEW Studio Apt in Kathu: 30 sqm, 1 bed-

3 & 4 Bed Pool Villas:

Freehold House for sale: Freehold house for sale in Permsap Villa, Cherng Talay. Land 735 m2, original 4 bedroom house w it h 2 3 0 m 2 f l o o r are a modified to 3 bedroom, all windows and doors from SUNPARADISE, separate carport from Shades. Very quiet estate. First owner since 2009. Price 10.9mln o.n.o. Call 083-5038797 for information.

Rawai B eachf ront Pool Villa Sale/Rent:

Laguna/Layan. Luxury private pool villas in secure development. Available now. All beds ensuite. Fully furnished. Rental programme available. B12-20 million. Contact owner: 085 549 7110.

room, kitchen, washing machine, aircon, balcony, fully furnished. Condo with gym, 24hr security, car park. 5 mins to Patong, Loch Palm golf. Good view. B1.25 million. Call 086 947 1273.

Luxury Villa in Chalong: Perfect condition, 660 sqm on 3 levels, 1.600 sqm land, 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, swimming pool 12.5m x 6m with jacuzzi, large sala, double garage. Top quality construction. Reduced price: B25.5 million www.tamataphuket.com crishausb@ hotmail.com Tel. 086 271 3260 or 086 273 4149.

Pool Villa For Sale Nai Harn: Modern, open design villa with a large 9x3 meter pool, 2 floors, nice garden, car park and mountain views, 6 years young, 120 sqm floor, 2 bedrooms, chanote, located close to center & beach. Call 085 473 7812.

Opportunity Knocks: B24,500,000. Deceased Estate - Absolute waterfront. Occupying a stunning location on the east coast of Phuket this five-level villa has panoramic sea views from every level. Renovation work required. 085 793 2667. See exotiqproperty. com. Ref AB-V453, email: dmuir@exotiq.com.

Kathu-Pool Villa for sale: Hillside setting. Luxurious 6 bedroom, 5 bathroom pool villa for sale or rent. Sale 20M Baht. Rent minimum 6 months. High season 9 0K per month. Twelve months or more 70K PM. 087 078 6379.

Rawai Beach front pool villa for rent/sale. 3 bedrooms, furnished. Contact Siriporn on 089 649 9939.

7.5 M House and Pool Bypass Rd: Very clean 5

205/34 Soi Thamdee Nanai 6: House for sale Golf View Villa For Sale: Near British International School, state-ofthe-art villa overlooking the Loch Palm Golf Course: 4 bedrooms + maid’s room; 485 m2 built on 1,860 m2 land. B28million. Contact owner 089 724 7211.

in a very good location in the heart of Patong. The house has 3 floors, 3 sleeping rooms, 1 living room, 3 bathrooms and a roof terrace with jacuzzi, garage. Good rental return. Price on request. 084 188 4544.

bedroom, 3 bathroom house with 5 x 10 metre pool 10 minutes south of Central Festival, walking distance to Kajonkiet Bilingual School. To see: 083 301 3470, email: wpdrake@hotmail.com.

Rawai Pool V illa: Single House Special Price B9.5 million: Nice house fully furnished with teakwood furniture, ready to move in. 240 sqm. 4 bed 4 bath, close to Kathu waterfall and market. Near Loch Palm, major stores, BIS and KIS. Call Oranwan 086 883 3169.

Unique three bedroom pool villa “off the plan” in Rawai. Three easy payments over eight months build time. Overlooking a peaceful, fish-filled lake. Valued at B12 million on completion. Save millions. Contact 081 270 4291, email: thailandmls@gmail.com.

House on The Corner for Sale: Quiet loca-

BanYan Villa: 2 yearold 3 -storey townhouse 31.5 s.q wah or about 126 s.q.m at bann yan villa 3 bed rooms, 3 bathrooms, 1 kitchen, 1 aircon, fully furnished located near by land and houses park, Chalong. Pr ic e 3. 2 m. Contact owner tel 081 535 1252 Mr. Krich.

Pool Villa in Marina: Resort for Sale: Resort 2 rai, with Chanote. 22 Double villas with kitchens, large pool and big coconut garden with own well. Restaurant and bar with satellite TV and Adsl. Opened for 15 years, with lots of repeat customers, parking, quiet. 086 940 1860.

Ready to move in, single storey pool villa with 3 bedroom situated in the impressive Park Residence sector of Boat Lagoon Marina. Impressively constructed along a modern Asian theme. 076 238 948, email: marketing@phuketproper tytrip.com.

tion and only 500m from the main road. Thepkrasattri, Heroines Monument. 70sqw x 280sqm, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, big living room with open-plan kitchen (9x9m), 1 separated kitchen, carpark for 3 cars and a small storehouse, 2 aircons, cable TV, 1 phone line TT&T. Price: B3.5 million including furniture. Excl. furniture B2,995,000. Must see! Email: jochenschmitz16@gmail. com. Call 081 607 8000.

Furnished House for Sale Phuket Villa 5: 3 bedroom house with furniture, close to Kajonkiet School. Secure area, Cul De Sac, nice gardens, two bathrooms. B3,500,000 negotiable. Details 081 370 8114 (Thai) 087 889 3838 (Eng), email:davidgem98@ hotmail.com.

Urgent Sale - Make an Offer: Studio condo

at The Point near Lotus, Big C, Central. All furniture and inventory includ. Great views 6th floor. Cost over B2.5million. Call 087 889 3838 or 081 370 8114. Email: davidgem98@hot mail.com

CLASSIFIEDS 21

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

List your advert for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php

PROPERTY IN PHUKET

House in Phuket Town / Samkong 3 bedroom, 3 bathrooms: Semi detached house with 3 large bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, large open living/dining area and entertainment deck outside. Large western kitchen with all appliances. Great area very conveniently located 5 minutes from all amenities including both international hospitals, Central Festival, international schools and the centre of town. Selling due to relocation. Priced to sell at B4.3M including 4 air cons and all modern style furniture. Nothing more to spend. Contact (English): 084 768 0536 or (Thai): 085 888 0502.

Phuket Cottages

Near British International School, pool-villas starting from THB 8,800,000.

www.phuket-cottages.com

Call: 089-724-7211

PROPERTY FOR SALE CONT. Karon Hill Condo for sale ! Foreign Freehold: Seaview over Karon Beach. 100sqm. living area. 1 bedroom, walk in closets, luxury bathroom, terrace, etc. Fully furnished. Many upgrades. Luxury furnishings. Only 6.9 million baht. Brokers welcome. Call 086 747 9292 (English) or 081 970 5204 (English/Thai). Email: claudstrey@gmail. com.

Patong Condo for Sale: My condo is ready

for immediate sale located at Lotus Residence, a small 3-storey boutique condo of only 12 apartments total. It is located on a southern hillside above Patong Bay. Call 084 436 2540.

Phuket Land for Sale (L885): Price On ApplicaRawai Condo Sale/ Rent: Sell 1.1MB, Full ownership forever-beyond the financing plan of 10 years. Rent 9.000B/Month. Studio Room Renovated With furniture. A/C, WiFi, kitchen, 200m to Beach.084 242 8914. Rawai4@yahoo.com.

tion. Ms.Prakaipeth - CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) 076 239 967 / 081 538 6879

180 degree Oceanview plot for sale near Bang Pae Waterfall. Peaceful with a lot of privacy. One of Phuketâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s last available Seaview Plots. Only B3.8 M per rai (total B7.6 M). Brokers welcome. Call 086 747 9292 (English) or 081 970 5204 (Thai/English). Email: claudstrey@ gmail.com.

Amazing Sea View Penthouse: Panoramic

sea view, mountain view and Big Buddha. 310 sq metre, 2 beds, 2 baths with option to convert in 3 beds. Contact: Izzy +66(0)86 278 8300 or izzy.serenitygroup@gmail. com.

SALE in Patong; 50 sqm of the living area, sea-view / mountain view, furnished, Pool, 24hr security, price for SALE B2.8M - B3.3M. Contact +66(0)83 103 3801.

Patong/Kalim sea view condo: Freehold, 2nd floor, corner unit, stunning sea view, pool, car park, security, best location, ca.110sqm, 2 bed room,bed room, German kitchen, all new, terrace, only a few metres to beach, B10.6 M 081 824 1385.

Condominium in Patong for Sale: Less than 1 Km from the beach, large 2-bedroom apartment with communal swimming pool and balcony. FREEHOLD (can be foreign owned). B7.5M. Contact owner 089 724 7211 or julien@phuket immo.com.

rai with 185 metres of sea frontage. Water, electricity, road and boat access, located 800 metres from Yacht Haven marina, perfect site for small beach front development. For quick sale only B5 million per rai. Tel 081 3430777 Email : montha_phuket@yahoo.com.

6.1 Rai Land for Sale: Prime Location 35M Lake Front: Fantastic

views over the Lake and Loch Palm. Very quiet, secluded plot but with all facilities ready to go. 1551 sqm plot, freehold leasehold with full Chanote title. 081 273 6959.

Opposite Wat Chalong on the way up to the hill, Chanote, ca. 36 m x 45 m, sophisticated hillside project, proratable, B8.5 mil direct to owner: 085 65 44 0 11 or 089 40 40 737.

Absolute beach front land: S o ngk la dist r ic t near new deep sea port. 4.5 Rai divided into 7 Chanote plots. Reluctant sale. B4.9M the lot. mail jmicchia@yahoo.com or call 087 276 0529.

2 Rai Seaview Landplot for sale: Beautiful

Ocean Front Land: 7

Apartment for sale in Patong: Apar tment for

1 Rai Sea-View Land:

6.1 rai (10,000sq metre). - 5 m i nute s to N ai t h o n Beach. 10 minutes to Naiyang Beach. 10 minutes to Airport. 7 minutes to New Tesco Lotus. - Roadside land and Chanote title. Call 085 793 2718.

Land At Kathu For Sale: Only 15 minutes to

Patong and only 10 minutes to Phuket Town, located at Kathu, total 141 square wah or 564 Square metre with ready public utility. Call 081 892 0610,081 472 0770, tan_ohio@hotmail.com.

Land For Sale: 3/4 of Rai in small community, very quiet and private, close to all services, 10 min to school, airport, beach, golf, Tesco B2.5M. 087 276 0529 for info.

Rawai Half Rai for Sale: Land plot 100 metres to Rawai Beach, about 850 sq.metre. Chanote title deed, private road with sewer, 3 phases electricity and wall around the land. Email: rawai.steen@gmail.com, call 080 530 6880.

Beachfront land for sale: 2 rai absolute amazing beachfront, few min. boat ride from Phuket, facing west to sunset and views of Phuket. B13 million per rai +66(0)86 278 8300 or izzy. serenitygroup@gmail.com.

G o l f Co u r s e L a n d For Sale: Near British

Intl School, 17 rai with public road access. Suitable for resort or housing project. Can be divided. Price: B 4. 5 m p e r r ai. C o nt ac t owner 089 724 7211, email: julien@phuketimmo.com.

6 Rai Hilltop Land for Sale: Mission hills 6 rai hilltop land for sale. B4.2 million per rai. Full chanote, water, electrical, sea/ moutain views. Call 087 797 8503 (Eng).

Land for Sale: One rai. Very quiet and private, close to all services, 10 min to school, airport, beach, golf, Tesco. B3.4M. 087 276 0529 for info.

Land for Sale - in Marina: Design and build your own home with good location and gated community. All the infrastructure you need is available such as water, underground cabling for power, telephone, ADSL internet etc. Contact 076 238 948, email: marketing@phuketproperty trip.com.

Hill Land for Sale: Very nice location hill land by the Bangwat Dam, total 60 rai, 96,000 square metre. Contact: Attapong 081 892 0610 (Thai), Jantiwa 081 890 8268 (Eng). e-mail: jantiwa_ j@hotmail.com.

Sea View Land for Sale: Phuke Ao-Yon, 13.5

rai, chanode title.10m/rai. Call Siri 089 649 9939, email:siri_phuket@changrunner.com.

22 CLASSIFIEDS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

EQUIPMENT SALES & RENTAL

HOME IMPROVEMENT

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

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Tel: 076-620113 or 084-8506140 Fax: 076-620015

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

PHUKET SPORT 23

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Super Six teams do battle in season finale FOOTBALL THE THIRD SEASON OF Phuket’s Super Six soccer competition wrapped up with a handful of games, with Morning Star taking the first division honours and the second division’s Pita Bar Phuketeers and Puensil FC winning promotion into the top ranks for next season. Morning Star had already secured the division 1 title when they came up for their last game against Phuket Condos & Homes. Morning Star fired up at their usual high pace, and were 2-1 up at the break. PC&H pressed for an equaliser after half time, but found it hard to get though Morning Star’s defence. Instead, Morning Star picked another few goals, while PC&H only picked up one, for a final score of 4-2

The game between the The Hulk and Sweet Lemon FC ended with a five-all draw and a sharing of the spoils for these two highly skilled Thai teams. Next up, Joy Dive needed a win against PSU Alumni to secure second place in division 1. PSU scored the first goal in the game, and kept Joy Dive at bay until only five minutes remained, when Joy Dive finally got their equaliser. In the dying minutes they added another to make it 2-1 and give them all 3 points and the second spot in division 1. Phuket’s Super Six League season 4 is set to start on January 8 for division 2 and January 9 for division 1. The league is now accepting teams for the new season, and interested players can contact Karl Ward for more information: email karl@phuketfootball.com or call 085 585 1133.

Hash House Harriers

Run: 1397 at 3:30pm on Saturday, December 15 Directions: Rawai. From Chalong circle head south

and after 2.2km turn right (7-Eleven on the corner). Follow the road for 1.1km and turn right. Follow the road for 1.1km and turn right. The laager is 400m further on the right. This will be a charity run.

More information: phuket-hhh.com

Jelik wins IRC Zero honours in Phuket King’s Cup Regatta SAILING

2012 Phuket King’s Cup Regatta results

lear skies and fair winds graced the final day of racing at the 2012 Phuket King’s Cup Regatta off Kata Beach, delivering a sporting finish to a week of races that has reinforced the regatta’s reputation as one of Southeast Asia’s premier sailing events. This year’s competition saw close racing across many of the classes, as well as the reintroduction of a windsurfing class. Frank Pong and his Jelik team took first place in IRC Zero class, ahead of Thai team Won Ma Rang. Less than three minutes separated the two boats at the close, but Jelik finally secured the honours after a week-long battle. “We decided last night just to have a good clean race and keep out of trouble,” said Frank Pong. “Won Ma Rang crossed ahead of us, but we picked up more wind on the opposite side. It was a close race but we had a point score advantage going into the final round.” “I have to say, Won Ma Rang has really come forward compared to two years ago,”

THE FIGHT STUFF Phuket International Academy Day School nursery teacher Amy

Sharp took a break from her daytime duties on December 4 to take part in a Muay Thai bout at the King’s Cup Event in Bangkok. The British fighter did well and won on points to take home a professional Muay Thai Federation Belt (WPMF) belt.

IRC 0 class

1. Jelik (14) 2. Won Ma Rang (17) 3. Utarid (23)

IRC 1 class

1. Ichiban (18) 2. Foxy Lady 6 (22) 3. Walawala 2 (24.5)

IRC 2 class

1. Ichiban (13) 2. Royal Thai Navy 1 (19) 3. Kata Rocks (24)

Firefly 850 Sports class

IRCO class winner Jelik at the 2012 King’s Cup Regatta. added Mr Pong. “They practice hard and have great people.” It is the second time that Jelik has won the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta – the first was in 2007. “I’ve been here four or five times with this boat. It’s been four years since our last win! We’ve been blessed with six perfect days – even the reserve day had good wind,” said Mr Pong. Steve Manning’s Walawala 2 team finished first by three minutes in the final IRC1 clash on Saturday, but the win wasn’t enough to keep David Fuller’s Ichi Ban team from taking the overall class honours by four points, with Foxy Lady 6 taking

the runner-up spot. In IRC2 class, the second Ichi Ban team lead by Matt Allen finished the week six points ahead of the Thai Navy 1 boat, skippered by CPO Wiwat Poonpat. Royal Thai Navy 2, skippered by Commander Peera Sagurtam, finished the week in fourth place. In Platu One Design class, Thailand’s Tuay Lek battled three Japanese boats across the week, and finished on top of the class by just a two-point margin. Pine-Pacific won the final two Premier class races, but Richard Dobb’s Titania of Cowes won that class for the second year in a row.

1. Voodoo (12) 2. Dyer Straits (22) 3. Twin Sharks (29)

Multihull class

1. Mojo (13) 2. Fantasia (14) 3. Sweet Chariot (29)

Platu One Design class 1. Tuay Lek (16) 2. The Beaver (18) 3. Sakura (24)

Premier class

1. Titania of Cowes (10) 2. Pine Pacific (13) 3. Xena (16)

Bareboat Charter class 1. Sail Plane (8) 2. Agility International (10) 3. Sarawadee (22)

Modern Classic class 1. Patrice III (10) 2. Windstar (11) 3. Emerald Blue (14)

Cruising class

1. No Name (11) 2. Linda (14) 3. Sansiri – Ooo La La (15)

WHEN YOU’RE SICK OF GIRLIE FOOD JOIN US FOR A JUICY STEAK Great steaks, burgers and salads. Happy hour drinks and live sports in the heart of Patong.

OPEN LUNCH TIME UNTIL LATE

Patong Promenade Rooftop. Corner of Bangla and Rat- U- Tit Rd. Patong.

24 PHUKET SPORT

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Phuket goes global FOOTBALL Kazira Hans editor@thephuketnews.com

A hit in the making: Island Cricket Club’s Ali Ahmed.

Patong see off ICC CRICKET Burger Marx

PATONG CRICKET CLUB emerged as victors against their old foes Juba Days Island Cricket Club after an exciting day of cricket on Sunday, the second game of this season’s Jones Lang LaSalle cricket league (JLL). PCC won the toss, elected to bat, and lost their first wicket in the second over. After a cautious start, opener Mike Khan found his straps and scored a quick-fire 46 runs off 42 balls. Khan was supported at the crease by Dave Thomas (38), whose stay was extended after being bowled only for the umpire to call no ball, and Manish Sadarangani (33). The ICC bowling attack toiled long and hard but, due to some poor fielding, they let the opportunity to restrict PCC to

a small total slip through their fingers. PCC were well pleased at the end of the allotted 35 overs, scoring 229 for 8 The batting prowess of the ICC team is well known. Patong needed a good bowling performance backed up in the fielding department to secure victory and they delivered the goods. The first ICC wicket fell in the third over. The clunk of the wickets being toppled was a constant presence during the ICC chase, largely due the bowling of P. Morton (4 for 42). A. Ahmed, 42 off 32, did revive his compatriots hopes with some hefty blows – but it was all to no avail, as PCC eventually took the last wicket in the 32 overs with the score on 161. This Sunday (December 16) the Island Cricket Club take on Thanyapura News Tigers at the ACG. The match is scheduled to start at 9 am.

huket FC has extended the contract for its Ivorian Nene Bi Tra Sylvestre for a further year, and signed up Giorgi Tsimakuridze on the right wing – another signing to the Islanders by way of Bangkok Glass FC. After recently letting go four foreign footballers - Roland “Plato” Vargas, Byeon Seong Won, Ibrahim Kanuete, and Marcio Santos - “The Islanders” have announced they have reached a deal to extend Nene Bi’s contract for another season. The Ivorian centre back has played with Phuket FC since 2009, and was the first foreign player to reach 100 games with the team. Georgian footballer Giorgi Tsimakuridze has signed a one year contract with Phuket FC to play on the Islanders’ right wing – he formerly played with Bangkok Glass FC in Thai Premiere League. Phuket FC Team Manager Jakkapob Soo-gnan said “Georgie joined us as a free agent, which we consider a worthy deal as he’s a very

Nene Bi Tra Sylvestre (left) Phuket FC manager Jakrapob Soo-gnan (centre) and new signing from Bangkok Glass, Georgian right winger Giorgi Tsimakuridze (right). good footballer in the Thai Premier League. His skill and experience will be a tremendous boost for us in the 2013 season.” “Nene Bi has always been the fans’ favorite, and we all have witnessed his dedication to the team over the past years. Having him with us as our centre back, we can rest

assured that our defensive line will be at its best.” Mr Jakkapob hinted that further foreign signings could be announced soon: “We are still looking to sign other foreign footballers to our team. I have a few in mind but can’t really give their names yet. But I will say fans will be happy”

2013 Thailand Division 1 teams

South:

Phuket FC, Krabi FC

East:

Sriracha Suzuki FC Royal Thai Navy, Trat FC, Rayong FC, Rayong United, PTT Rayong

Northeast:

Nakhonratchasima FC, Khon Kaen FC

Central

Gulf Saraburi FC, TTM FC (Thai Tobacco) Nakhonpathom United, Ayutthaya FC

Bangkok

Airforce United, Bangkok FC Thai Port, BBCU FC

Youths given run-out at the ACG MORE THAN A DOZEN Phuket youngsters enjoyed an introduction to one of the world’s most popular sports on Saturday, as the Phuket Cricket Group (PCG) launched its new youth academy at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) in Thalang district. During the two-hour morning session, the kids practised fielding, bowling and batting skills, and played some cricket mini-games. Coach John King said the academy training was part of a plan to establish a new cricket junior league at the ACG. The kids “represent a crop of new and young talent, which

Born to run: Phuket youngsters at the ACG on Saturday. will later form the base for the senior leagues of the future,” he said. The academy holds its sessions on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings, and

is open to children from ages 6 to 14. Anyone interested in enrolling their child should contact Mark Ashman of the PCG at chairman@phuketcricketgroup.com

FOOD SAFETY TRAINING Educating all food handlers to understand the importance of food safety standards.

Our training is highly interactive.

info@foodhygieneasia.com 076 617 692, 081 862 4439 www.foodhygieneasia.com

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

THAILAND SPORT 25

Champions race in Bangkok MOTORSPORTS

Bangkok Post

or motorsport fans, no sound is as sweet as a thundering roar of a Formula One engine. No air is as invigorating as a whiff of burning rubber on a circuit. No sight is as electrifying as when their favourite racers round the curve faultlessly at breakneck speed. And no moment seems as sexy as an intimate encounter with a line-up of powerful racing machines. The 25th Race Of Champions, being held for the first time in Bangkok this weekend, will see winners from the world’s premier motorsports competing against each other in a series of identical vehicles, including KTM X-Bows and specially manufactured buggies, to prove their driving skills with no technological differences in the machines. Thanks to an ambitious collaboration between the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), Red Bull and Singha Corporation, motorsport fans in the Kingdom will no longer be confined to watching the exploits of heroes like Michael Schumacher and Sebastian

Seven-time champion Schumacher, right, and triple F1 winner Sebastian Vettel. Vettel via satellite. The seven-time champion and recently retired (again) Schumacher and triple F1 winner Vettel will be among the motorsport superstars in Bangkok for the Red Bull Singha Race Of Champions, which takes place at Rajamangala National Stadium from today (December 14) to Sunday, December 16. They will be joined by Jorge Lorenzo (MotoGP), Sebastien Ogier (World Rally Championship), Romain Gros-

jean (Formula One), Ryan Hunter-Reay (IndyCar Series), Jamie Whincup (V8 Supercar), Mick Doohan (MotoGP), David Coulthard (Formula One), Andy Priaulx (World Touring Car) and Tom Kristensen (24 Hours of Le Mans). The racing starts today (December 14) with the ROC Asia Cup. On Saturday the ROC Nations Cup features top racers from eight countries competing on behalf of their homeland, when German superstars Vettel and Schumacher

Young does well in New Delhi PHUKET-BASED RACING driver Dylan Young capped off a strong weekend in races 3 to 6 of the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship, with two top-10 finishes amongst a competitive field of 18 international drivers. The races were held at the same circuit as the opening two races of the series, the Buddh F1 Circuit in New Delhi, India between November 30 and December 2, where the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 cars led the bill as the fastest category at a huge racing carnival, the Sidvin Festival of Speed. Young has continued his

Phuket-based Dylan Young races at the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championships in New Delhi. progression from the previous rounds, which were held in support of the Indian Formula 1 GP, with an improved performance by managing to finish in 11th, 10th, 9th and 11th places respectively over the four race weekend. The 23-year-old Australian-

born driver, who is sponsored by Ku Dé Ta Singapore and the Indigo Pearl Resort Phuket, managed to improve in every race of the weekend until the final race on Sunday when he was once again looking at a top ten finish before being forced off the circuit with a few laps to go.

will defend their title. The final round will be held on Sunday (December 16), with the overall winner crowned Champion of Champions. The Bangkok racing will be broadcast live to the US, Europe and Asia, and the event expected to draw about 19 million viewers. Michael de Santiesteban, a representative of Red Bull’s owner and one of the people credited with bringing the race to Thailand, said: “The beauty of ROC is that it gathers so

many race car champions in one place. The racers compete against each other in identical cars, giving the audience the chance to witness the drivers’ skill, rather than the technological differences in their cars.” Kanokphand Chulakasem, governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand, said “This is the second time that the ROC event has been staged outside Europe. And Thailand has never before seen a grandscale, international competition like this.’’ Red Bull’s Mr de Santiesteban also noted that the all-star competition could be regarded as a stepping stone for Thailand toward a more momentous race – a Formula One grand prix. According Mr de Santiesteban, the idea of bringing a Formula One race to Bangkok has always been a dream of Red Bull owner Chalerm Yoovidhya. But while Red Bull’s Formula One team just clinched its third consecutive World Championship title, the dream of holding the race in Bangkok remains unfulfilled. Mr de Santiesteban says Mr Chalerm wishes to honour His Majesty King Bhumibol while carrying on the project initiated more than 70 years

ago by Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh, the country’s first and only grand prix winner, to host a grand prix in Bangkok. The prince’s dream was shattered when World War II broke out. “We were in the midst of Formula One strategic planning when we were presented with the opportunity to host ROC,’’ Mr de Santiesteban said. “As it’s a major international event, we decided that it should be a joint collaboration between the government and the private sector to make the best case that Thailand, as host, is not second to anyone.’’ The Bangkok track for the event was designed on site by Michele Mouton, the only woman to win the World Rally Championship. The organisers flew in a team of scrutineers from Europe to make sure all vehicles meet FIA standard. For ticket-buying fans, race nights will feature pre-show events inside the stadium from 6pm onwards. Highlights include demonstration runs in the titlewinning Red Bull Racing F1 car by three-time champ Vettel and a parade on a Yamaha motorbike by MotoGP king Lorenzo.

26 WORLD SPORT

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

PREMIER LEAGUE PREDICTIONS: ROUND 17

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

THIS YEAR’S GRAND PRIZE IS SPONSORED BY:

United stun City in derby thriller FOOTBALL

obin van Persie scored a stoppage-time winner as Manchester United clinched a dramatic 3-2 away victory over Manchester City to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to six points. Van Persie struck in the second minute of injury time to give United the victory, after Wayne Rooney’s firsthalf brace for the visitors was cancelled out by Yaya Toure and Pablo Zabaleta. Rooney scored in the 16th and 29th minutes, becoming the youngest player to reach 150 Premier League goals at 27 years and 46 days. Liverpool staged an impressive fightback to secure a 3-2 win over West Ham at Upton Park on Sunday. Brendan Rodgers’ side looked in danger after Mark Noble’s penalty and a Steven Gerrard own-goal put the Hammers 2-1 up after Glen Johnson’s early opener. But Liverpool equalised through Joe Cole before West Ham defender James Collins

Seen here earlier in the season against Fulham, Robin van Persie clinched the 3-2 away victory over Man City. turned a cross into his own net with 11 minutes remaining. Everton beat Tottenham 2-1 at Goodison Park to go fourth in the League. Clint Dempsey struck for Tottenham in the 76th minute, but the equaliser from Steven Pienaar in the 90th minute and Croatia striker Nikica Jelavic’s winner in the second minute of stoppage-time secured the win.

The result lifted Everton above Tottenham on goal difference and ended a run of three successive wins for Andre Villas-Boas’s side. Chelsea ended a run of seven Premier League games without victory with a 3-1 win against Sunderland. Fernando Torres found the net in the 11th minute, and again from the spot on the stroke of half-time.

Juan Mata made it 3-0 early in the second half, while Adam Johnson provided the consolation goal for Sunderland. Arsenal also returned to their winning ways after three games without victory, beating West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium through a pair of penalties from Mikel Arteta. It was a third straight defeat for fifth-placed West Brom, whose lead over Arsenal has been cut to two points. Bottom club Queens Park Rangers remain without a win in 16 games – a new Premier League record – after being held to a 2-2 draw at Wigan Athletic. Southampton clambered out of the relegation zone and up to 15th place after a 61st-minute strike from Jason Puncheon secured a 1-0 win at home to second-bottom Reading. Hugo Rodallega fired Fulham to their first win in eight matches, sealing a 2-1 victory over Newcastle at Craven Cottage on Monday – the fifth defeat for Alan Pardew’s team in their last six Premier League matches. They remain only four points above the

TOM’S TIPS ROUND 17 Newcastle v Man City Liverpool v Aston Villa Man United v Sunderland Norwich v Wigan Athletic QPR v Fulham Stoke City v Everton Tottenham v Swansea City West Brom v West Ham Reading v Arsenal

Win Win Win Draw Lose Lose Win Lose Lose

relegation zone. And the clash at Liberty Stadium between Swansea City and Norwich City was a pulsating affair, the visitors winning 4-3 to end the Swans’ six-game unbeaten run and prolong their own run of games without defeat to nine matches. AFP In The Phuket News tipping competition, no fewer than six players have pipped last month’s leader, suncat100, to the top of the monthly table. Suncat100 still leads the overall results with

THIS MONTH'S COMPETITION IS SUPPORTED BY:

a total of 320 points - just a five point lead over the next challenger, mickeyleeds. The scheduled Chelsea vs Southampton game in the next round has been postponed, and removed from the prediction table. The winner of the November competition will win a B3,000 voucher to spend at Australian Bar & Grill in Kata. The overall winner at the end of the year will win a brand new Honda Scoopy courtesy of AP Honda.

Messi wants more titles, not history FOOTBALL LIONEL MESSI INSISTS that his record-breaking 86goal haul in 2012 will count for nothing if Barcelona miss out on La Liga and Champions League titles. The Argentine star overhauled German legend Gerd Mueller’s 1972 record of 85 goals in a calendar year with a first-half double that helped his side to an important 2-1 win at Real Betis. But the 25-year-old was happier to highlight the win more than the record as his team eye a domestic and European double.

Barcalona’s Lionel Messi has scored a record-breaking 86 goals this calendar year. “I’ve said it a lot, it’s nice to beat records but the win for the team is what is important and the points difference at the top,” said Messi. Messi has made a habit of creating landmarks in his career. Last season, he became the most successful scorer in

a La Liga season by hitting 50 goals in the league campaign. The previous record-holder, Germany great Gerd Mueller , on Monday described Lionel Messi as a “giant” after the Argentine broke the calendar year goalscoring record that had stood for 40 years. “I’m very happy for him,” Mueller said, according to a spokesman for his former club Bayern Munich, adding that he thought Messi was “an incredible player, a giant.” Mueller, who was at his peak between 1964 and 1979, joked that Messi only had one fault: “He doesn’t play for Bayern Munich.” AFP

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Time to Pac it in? BOXING

ahead by a point on their scorecards. “I want to congratulate Juan Manuel,” Pacquiao said. “I have no excuses. It was a good fight and he deserved the victory. “I think boxing fans who watched us were winners too. “I would like to thank you for your prayers and assure you that I am fine. I am looking forward to a nice rest and then I will be back to fight.” Pacquiao is committed to fighting into 2013 but not after that. He could also fight Tim Bradley, who beat Pacquiao earlier this year. Or he could look to Floyd Mayweather who might now be willing to step up to the plate if he feels Pacquiao’s skills are deteriorating. Pacquiao did not attend the post fight news conference after suffering his second consecutive loss for the first time in his career. He was taken to a nearby hospital as a “precaution”, said his camp. He was treated and released after spending an hour getting checked by doctors. Pacquiao then returned to his Las Vegas hotel where he watched a replay of the fight, joking to the others in the room, “Spoiler alert. I don’t think you are going to like how this ends.” AFP

From back page

anny Pacquiao says he would welcome another fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, one that would put them into an elite class of boxing champions who have met five times in the ring. “I am going to rest and come back to fight,” said Pacquiao, whose face was swollen and red after getting knocked out Saturday by Marquez in the fourth installment of their epic boxing rivalry. Asked in the ring after the fight if he would fight Marquez again, Pacquiao replied, “I would go for a fifth.” Marquez registered an emphatic victory by rallying to floor Pacquiao with a thundering right hand with just one second remaining in the sixth round at the sold out MGM Grand Garden arena. Mexico’s Marquez was non-committal when asked if he wanted to face Pacquiao again. “Right now in my future I don’t know what is coming but I am going to rest and I am going to celebrate with my family and my friends in Mexico,” Marquez said.

Pacquiao with trainer Freddie Roach. Photo: Roger Alcantara “I am just thinking of the celebration rather than who I am going to fight next.” Gene Tunney and Harry Greb fought five times between 1922 and 1925 and Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake LaMotta had six fights between 1942-1951. Filipino Pacquiao lost the non-title welterweight bout in stunning fashion despite throwing 256 total punches to 246 for Marquez. Pacquiao connected on 94 punches, almost twice as many as Marquez who connected on 52 punches. The two have now fought 42 total rounds over four fights, spanning eight years. Pacquiao still leads their rivalry 2-1-1. But neither is getting any younger. Pacquiao, who earned about US$25 million, turns 34 on December 17 and Marquez

Live Sports TV Schedule

CHANNEL GUIDE

END

SPORT

EVENT

TEAMS / INFO

Friday, December 14 107 29 815, 111

18:00 11:00 17:30

Challenge 19:45 Rugby Union Amlin Cup 18:00

Wasps v. Bayonne (R)

Cricket

4th Test Match

India v. England, Nagpur, Day 2

Golf

Alfred Dunhill Ch’ship

Leopard Creek Country Club, Day 2

22:30

Saturday, December 15 815, 111 814

18:30 20:35

22:30

Golf

22:30 Rugby Union

814

01:00

03:00 Rugby Union

812, 101

19:45

21:45

812, 102

22:00

813, 101

Alfred Dunhill Ch’ship Heineken Cup

Leopard Creek Country Club, Day 3 Ospreys v. Toulouse

Team

Record four-in-a-row title for New Zealand in Sevens world series RUGBY NEW ZEALAND triumphed over France with a thrilling 47-12 win to clinch the third leg of the IRB Sevens World Series for the fourth consecutive time in South Africa on Sunday. The All Blacks scored seven tries thanks to a hat trick from Kurt Baker, the biggest scorer in the tournament in the final. France, exhausted from a 25-minute 10-7 semi final against Argentina, proved no match for the Kiwis, scoring only two tries in the deciding game. Their first victory in three finals this season extends the All Blacks’ lead in the series to 60 points, 14 ahead of second-placed France. It was a fitting birthday present for New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens, who turned 57 on Sunday. “I had a lot of luck with the teams over the last four years, to win here on my birthday, but I just feel for the players. They performed magnificently today,” he said.

“We were beaten by a good Samoan team at the last tournament in Dubai, beaten by Fiji in Australia so we had to win this one.” He had empathy for the worn-out French side. “They’re probably harder done by in terms of having to play just about an extra game when they had to go into extra time.” The game is now on to defend their home title in the series’ fourth leg in New Zealand in February next year. “There’s always pressure to win your own tournament. You can ask South Africa today,” said Tietjens, adding that the side needed to rest first. “We’ve got to get through Christmas and hopefully recover injuries. The guys took a few knocks over the last two weeks.” After winning only one game in the pool stages, France fought back to come in second. Coach Frederic Pommarel was happy with his side’s performance, though he conceded a few areas needed work. AFP

Spanish Primera Liga

English Premier League

1XX- True Vision, 8XX - Astra; 8 - Setanta

*Times may be subject to change

CHANNEL START

is 39. Marquez collected about US$5 million. A fifth fight is still a long way off. Earlier in the week Pacquiao said he wouldn’t go for a fifth fight and his trainer Freddie Roach said if Pac-Man lost this fight he would sit him down and tell him to think about retirement. Marquez, who survived a fifth round knock down and fought with a broken nose for the last few rounds, would certainly command a higher price if he were to agree to a fifth fight. Pacquiao said Marquez deserved the win and that he had no regrets about going for the knockout even though it probably cost him the victory. All three judges, John Keane, Steve Weisfeld and Adalaide Byrd, had Pacquiao

WORLD SPORT 27

Pts

Manchester United

Barcelona

Manchester City

Atletico Madrid

Chelsea

Real Madrid

Everton

Malaga

Tottenham Hotspur

Real Betis

West Bromwich Albion

Levante

Arsenal

Getafe

Swansea City

Real Valladolid

Stoke City

Real Sociedad

Liverpool

Valencia

West Ham United

Sevilla FC

Norwich City

Real Zaragoza

Fulham

Rayo Vallecano

Newcastle United

Athletic Bilbao

Sunderland

Celta Vigo

Southampton

Osasuna

Team

Heineken Cup

Ulster v. Northampton

Aston Villa

Mallorca

Soccer

EPL

Newcastle v. Man City

Wigan Athletic

Granada

00:00

Soccer

EPL

Man United v. Sunderland

Reading

Espanyol

Queens Park Rangers

Deportivo La Coruña

22:00

00:00

Soccer

EPL

Liverpool v. Aston Villa

817, 103

22:00

00:00

Soccer

EPL

Stoke v. Everton

161

22:00

00:00

Soccer

EPL

QPR v. Fulham

106

22:00

00:00

Soccer

EPL

Norwich v. Wigan

11:00

18:00

Cricket

4th Test Match

India v. England, Nagpur, Day 3

Sunday, December 16 814

19:45

21:30 Rugby Union

Heineken Cup

Casters v. Glasgow

814

21:55

23:45 Rugby Union

Heineken Cup

Saracens v. Munster

815, 111

18:30

22:30

Golf

Alfred Dunhill Ch’ship

Leopard Creek Country Club, Day 4

812, 101

20:25

22:30

Soccer

EPL

Tottenham v. Swansea

817, 101

23:00

01:00

Soccer

EPL

West Bromwich v. West Ham

11:00

18:00

Cricket

4th Test Match

India v. England, Nagpur, Day 4

RESULTS Southampton Sunderland Aston Villa Swansea City Wigan Athletic

1 – 0 1–3 0–0 3–4 2–2

Reading Chelsea Stoke City Norwich City Queens Park Rangers

Arsenal Manchester City Everton West Ham Fulham

2–0 2–3 2–1 2–3 2–1

West Brom Manchester United Tottenham Liverpool Newcastle

RESULTS Espanyol Real Sociedad Malaga Real Valladolid Osasuna

2–2 1–1 4–0 2– 3 0–1

Sevilla Getafe Granada Real Madrid Valencia

Levante Athletic Bilbao Atletico Madrid Real Betis Rayo Vallecano

4–0 1–0 6–0 1–2 0–2

Mallorca Celta Vigo Deportivo La Coruna Barcelona Real Zaragoza

Sport

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

Van Persie goal stuns Man City Man United extend EPL lead by six points after dramatic derby win > 26

editor2@thephuketnews.com

Pac-Man bites the dust

Manny Pacquiao (L) falls to the canvas after being knocked down by Juan Manuel Marquez in the 3rd round of their welterweight fight on December 8, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada. Marquez knocked out Pacquiao in the 6th round. Photo: AFP

FULL STORY ON PAGE 27